[comp.sys.dec] vt1xx .vs. vt2xx or vt3xx

hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu (System Janitor) (02/08/91)

Here is a problem I've never seen discussed (maybe I'm missing something
fundamental, and it's not a problem :-)...

vt100's generate ESC when you press the ESC button.

vt2xx's and vt3xx's generate ESC[23~ or somesuch when you press the ESC button.

We have several big labs full of vt3xx's that people use to connect (via LAT)
to our vaxes, some of which run VMS and some of which run Unix. 

If the terminals are set up as vt3xx's then Unix users get screwed because
vi (for example) doesn't want or expect to see anything but an ESC when the
ESC button is depressed.

If the terminals are set up as vt100's then the Unix users are fine, but VMS
users who want to use all-in-one or edt or whatever don't get to take 
advantage of the features of the nicer modern terminal they are sitting at.

I never gave it much thought, I'd just set the terminal up to work correctly
for the computer I was connected to. But, in general, users don't want to
(or don't understand how to) set up a terminal. They just want to sit down
and start typing. 

What do you think?

-Mike