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RE: bash and the delete key


At 20:59 2002-07-26, you wrote:
> At 20:16 2002-07-26, Some Beer-Swilling Patriot wrote:
> > > Tony,
> > >
> > > Absolutely that's a problem!
> > >
> > > CTRL-V is the default assignment for "literal-next" ("lnext") in the
> > > TTY driver
> > >
> >
> >OK, but to people who never knew that, and now that they do can't imagine why
> >they'd ever need it, is it a problem? CTRL-V is "paste" in every windows
> >program since 3.11 days, and it'd be hella-useful to remap it to
> something one
> >would actually use.
>
>
> Cygwin is not Windows.

Then what's the "win" in Cygwin for?
It stands for Windows, the name of the host environment within which a POSIX environment is emulated. We're discussing the behavior of the emulated environment, not the host environment.


> Cygwin does not aim to adopt Windows conventions
> within its environment,

ls c:

Yep, that works.  A lotta work's gone into the text/binary mess as well.
Accepting Windows file name syntax doesn't usurp any existing POSIX functionality.


> at least not as the default.>

By default it has no default, that's why the subject comes up at all.
What is "it" that has no default? CTRL-V has a default assignment: literal-next in the TTY driver and in the readline library.


> People who know what they're doing know what literal next is and does and
> they use it.

I know what I'm doing.  I've never used it.  The thought that "gee, I wish I
could type goofy characters at the bash prompt" never even crossed my mind.
No, you don't. You already professed your ignorance.


> How do you get a TAB into a command line with completion
> enabled?

Shrug.  Why would you want to?
Grep is the most obvious use.


> An ESC? A CTRL-A? CTRL-B? CTRL-C? CTRL-D? CTRL-E? CTRL-T? CTRL-P?
> CTRL-O? CTRL-N? Backslash doesn't handle non-printing characters, only
> literal next makes it possible to enter them on the command line.
>
> Mapping the insert clipboard to the "Insert" key is sufficiently
> "hella-useful."

Oh I agree 100%. But it'd be even nicer if, when I reflexively hit CTRL-V, it'd
do what one would expect it to do on a Windows machine, i.e. paste from the
clipboard.
Nicer for you. If it's what you want, take matters into your own hands and adapt your own environment to your own preferences and leave the stock environment in the most POSIX- and / or Unix-compliant state feasible.


So I ask again, is remapping CTRL-V going to cause any problems for those who
have no desire to enter tabs on the command line?
For the ignorant, no, it will cause no problems. For those who need literal next and have the legitimate expectation that it will be in the default place (CTRL-V), yes it matters and should not be changed.

Randall Schulz
Mountain View, CA USA

Randy

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