[SOLVED] mlterm uses xterm terminfo/termcap

While I was having small problems with xterm on -current I decided to give mlterm from SBo a run.

One problem I noted is that, by default, the terminal defaults to xterm, even though I see mlterm* entries in /usr/share/terminfo/m

Not really a problem, but wondering why the native terminfo is not used when it's available.

Do you mean that TERM is set to xterm?

Yes. The man page says mlterm defaults to a terminal type of xterm, but further on I see the following:

This configuration file [edit: $HOME/.mlterm/termcap]
determines the behaviors of mlterm that should match the
definition of terminfo and termcap. In principle, this file
should not be edited and, instead, you should choose a proper
value for TERM variable (i.e., proper terminfo/termcap definition)
which meets mlterm's behavior. (Since mlterm can behave as a
xterm/kterm to some extent, TERM=kterm/TERM=xterm should give
acceptable results.)

mlterm can behave as a xterm to some extent?

If TERM=xterm only partially meets mlterm's capabilities, and terminfo definitions for mlterm exist, why not use them instead? Slightly confused.

Originally Posted by Gerard Lally mlterm can behave as a xterm to some extent? If TERM=xterm only partially meets mlterm's behaviour, and terminfo definitions for mlterm exist, why not use them instead? Slightly confused.

Yes, "to some extent" doesn't cut it. It's just wrong.

Originally Posted by GazL Yes, "to some extent" doesn't cut it. It's just wrong.

Getting a terminal working consistently and reliably across several machines (local Slackware and remote NetBSDs) is an ongoing bone of contention for me. I was fairly satisfied with Xterm till -current, but that turned out to be a minor issue. I do wish terminals like mlterm and rxvt-unicode-256color would just install and use their own terminfo definitions. Too much messing around to get them right.

I think mlterm uses TERM=xterm by default intentionally.

$ mlterm --help | grep term=
 -y/--term=value    : terminal type for TERM variable [xterm]

This link claims.

The terminal should report itself as "xterm", so as not to confuse Solaris or other Unix variants that get very unhappy when TERM=mlterm.

http://www.scottro.net/qnd/qnd-mlterm.html

Thanks orbea. That link answers the question.