Re: UTF-8 and Alt key in the console

["H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>]

John T. wrote:
> 
> That's because you are working in "meta sends ESC" mode.
> Although this is OK for most applications, for some it isn't.
> Thus there have always been two modes, "meta sends ESC"
> and "meta sets 8th bit". (toggled with setmetamode on the
> console)
> 
> Vim relies on "meta sets 8th bit". Unfortunatelly the code
> for this options does not work in UTF-8 in the console. What
> I'd like to do is make this a viable option in UTF-8.
> 

No, fix vim instead.

"Meta sets 8th bit" is so obviously and totally broken, since it maps 
onto real characters, and has been doing so for at least 20 years. 
Meta-L maps onto LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH GRAVE, both in 8-bit mode 
and in your proposed UTF-8 mode.  It just becomes even more obvious how 
unbelievably broken it is when you try to map it onto UTF-8.

Seriously, fix the crap.

	-hpa