On Thu, Dec 14, 2006 at 03:04:59PM +0100, Bruno Haible wrote:

> Why isn't TERM set to the optimal value by default?

Because it is better to set it to the lowest common denominator,
so it will work everywhere. Some people are going to install NetBSD
on old machines or some machines which are used through some weird
terminal or cable link and only work with vt110 or very basic
terminal modes.

By choosing a lowest form of it, it works everywhere.
And if you have a better terminal or terminal emulation,
you are free to change the TERM value to something that suits
your needs.

It would be annoying to have the TERM set to something that
gives you a non useable console or terminal on some platforms :)

-- 
unzip ; strip ; touch ; grep ; find ; finger ; mount ; fsck ; more ;
yes ; fsck ; umount ; sleep