[BRLTTY] Linux console hacking (was: Re: Footsteps towards better accessibility in Linux)

[Nicolas Pitre]

On Sat, 28 Mar 2026, Sébastien Hinderer wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> Nicolas Pitre (2026/03/27 11:02 -0400):
> > > Once the kernel has been updated, is there anything more to do so that
> > > applications actually take advantage of this, or are things going to
> > > "just work"?
> >
> > You need to update the "linux" terminfo entry.
> [...]
> 
> Thankks! I upgraded my kernel to 6.19.10 and patched the system-wide
> terminfo database. And it works liek a charm, so really, thankyou.

By the way, a bug was just discovered.

Do _NOT_ enlarge the screen size while the alternate screen is active. 
Doing so will eventually crash the kernel after moving back to the 
normal screen.

A fix has been sent but the maintainer didn't pick it up yet.

> Question: I am wondering how this should be integrated to distributions.
> I guess it's not as simple as upgrading terminfo whne the kernel is
> upgraded, because there always is the possibility to boot an older
> kernel that does not support the feature.

In this case the kernel will simply ignore the sequence.


Nicolas