RFC: Disabling blinking cursor by default

[Brian Wheeler]

On Wed, 2009-02-04 at 08:51 +0100, Ralf Corsepius wrote:
> Brian Wheeler wrote:
> > On Wed, 2009-02-04 at 01:27 +0100, Ralf Corsepius wrote:
> >> seth vidal wrote:
> >>> On Tue, 2009-02-03 at 15:53 -0500, Dimi Paun wrote:
> >>>> On Tue, 2009-02-03 at 15:09 -0500, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> >>>>> I fail to see how a solid cursor is that much harder to find than
> >>>>> a blinking one. Unless you're only entering solid boxes as text?
> >>>> There's a reason it's been like this in like ... forever.
> >>>> Doesn't it strike you as strange to change one of the
> >>>> longest established conventions on a whim?!?
> >>> Tradition is not an argument in fedora.
> >> Sometimes traditions have good reasons - There are reasons why wheels 
> >> are shaped round and not rectangular.
> > 
> > Just as a nitpick, wheels are round for a technical reason, not because
> > of tradition.
> 
> A matter of perspective. Some will say cursors are blinking for 
> technical reasons.
> 

Sure, but that's not the same.  A wheel is defined (at least by
wikipedia) as: a circular device that is capable of rotating on its
axis.  Does the definition of cursor require that it blink?


> E.g.
> * When using real terminals (or remote logins or runlevel 3), they often 
> are the only indication of a system being alive or not.

As I posted elsewhere in this thread, my VT420 which is a real terminal
by any definition, doesn't blink the cursor.  Whether or not that was
its default or not I can't say since I've had it for years and I got it
second hand.

> * Certain applications apply multiple cursors. The active one often is 
> blinking to highlight it.
> 

Ok, fair enough.  How does this apply to terminals?


> Conversely: Most kids, at some point in their lifes will proudly present 
> their parents the vehicle with triangular or rectangular wheels they 
> assembled from LEGO kits or similar.
> 

Ok, do the rectangular "wheels" do what a wheel traditionally does as
well as a circular wheel?  Nope, it doesn't...so there's a technical
reason why a wheel is circular:  it works.  Just because something is
called a wheel doesn't make it a wheel.

Honestly, I don't care either way, though I do like saving power on my
laptop.

Brian "My ancestors apparently were cart makers" Wheeler