r...@sdf.org (RVP) writes: >The kernel currently defines the backspace key as:
>$ fgrep CERASE /usr/include/sys/ttydefaults.h >#define CERASE 0177 There is no 'defined as', in particular with emulated terminals that aren't even the same on all platforms. If you restrict yourself to PC hardware (i386/amd64 arch) then you probably have either a PS/2 keyboard -> the backspace key generates a DEL. a USB keyboard -> the backspace key generates a BS. That's something you cannot shoehorn into a single terminfo attribute and that's why many programs simply ignore terminfo here, in particular when you think about remote access. The more appropriate data source is the tty setting that is also most often inherited from the remote computer. Terminfo becomes more real when you actually talk to a specific hardware terminal, e.g. connected to a serial console. Terminal emulations again add a level of ambiguity to such 'definitions'.