[Grml] odd console output

[Frank Terbeck]

f. gr wrote:
> Frank Terbeck [2013-05-01T21:40+0200]:
[...]
>> What's the value of "$TERM" in your running shell session?
>
> It's 'xterm-256color' (setting up within $HOME/.zshrc.local file)

This is what I hinted at on the zsh mailing list already.

Do *NOT* mess with $TERM unless you _know_ what you're doing is correct.

The linux console is not xterm. Xterm would also allow terminal title
setting, which the setup then tries. The correct $TERM for the linux
console is "linux".

Note that there are very few cases where setting TERM makes sense at
all. For example, most modern versions of xterm support both "xterm" and
"xterm-256color". Tmux supports "screen" and "screen-256color"...

But you cannot just TERM as you please. It has consequences for programs
running inside the terminal (such as zsh). If you'd set TERM to
"xterm-256color" for rxvt for example, you're asking for trouble and
things are going to break.

So, the short answer is: Don't mess with $TERM.


Regards, Frank