Description of problem: Red Hat has been patching /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm in order to unset the eightBitInput resource. That is done so that Meta combinations send an ESC prefix instead of actual metacharacters. That is OK, but this particular resource can't be toggled through xterm's Main Options menu, and overrides the most natural option used to achive this goal, which is metaSendsEscape. Actually, it makes toggling metaSendsEscape through the Main Options menu uneffective. While the objective of this patch is valid, the best way to achieve it is through the metaSendsEscape resource. That way users will be able to toggle it on the fly for situation where sending ESC is not acceptable, e.g., VIM sessions. Suggested solution: Changing the `` ! Red Hat Defaults: *VT100*eightBitInput: 0 '' excerpt to `` ! Red Hat Defaults: *VT100*metaSendsEscape: 1 '' Which will result in just the benefits without the prejudice. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): XTerm(209)
Both metaSendsEscape and eightBitInput can be toggled via the main menu. Also metaSendsEscape can be toggled via escape sequence. To make parallel language here, I named the menu entry for eightBitInput "Alt Sends Escape", and that's in patch #205.
Closing as NOTABUG, since eightBitInput can be toggled on the fly through the menu.