Re: Interfacing with GPM

[Tim Allen]

On Wed, Jul 24, 2019 at 08:26:27AM -0400, Patrick wrote:
> The linux console might not be a popular option on the desktop now
> but what about the internet of things? Lots of times people need text input
> and don't need to run X.

The Linux kernel provides graphical (/dev/fb*) and console (/dev/vcsa*)
output, and input (/dev/input/*).

Terminal applications want all their input and output to be encoded as
terminal escape sequences on stdin/stdout.

It seems to me the simplest approach should be to write a terminal
emulator that uses the Linux APIs to provide the terminal APIs, mouse
event included. Trying to use the Linux kernel terminal emulation with
GPM bolted on the side via a totally different API is always going to be
awkward, not least because GPM is unmaintained. Even if it wasn't, the
kernel terminal emulator is a bit weird, and cannot be changed for
compatibility reasons. If I had to do work without X, I'd much rather
use a terminal that could be updated and extended.