Description of problem: The F16 xterm man page states: backarrowKey (class BackarrowKey) Specifies whether the backarrow key transmits a backspace (8) or delete (127) character. This corresponds to the DECBKM control sequence. The default (backspace) is “true”. Pressing the control key toggles this behav‐ ior. However, Fedora ships with /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/XTerm: *VT100*backarrowKey: false ^H is my personal preference, mainly because I like begin able to use BS and SPACE to move back/forward in vi and vi-mode line editing - Fitt's Law - they are easier to hit than h/l. I understand that ^? is the "correct" behavior for VT* emulation, but I should be able to set my personal preferences, using the man page as a reference, and get the expected behavior, without having to check the distro's changes. Please patch the man page to change the documented default, or at the very least, mention that Fedora changes the default to false. Thank you.
For what it's worth, the manpage describes the compiled-in defaults. In cases where packagers have modified the manpage to describe customizations, that's usually done in a paragraph near the end of the manpage.
In patch #280, I'm adding configure-script options to control this setting and a few related one (so that patching the app-defaults file will be unnecessary). That will also update the manpage.
from #280 (#281 is current): add configure options to predefine the most commonly customized resources for terminal-settings, use those to substitute into the manpage the corresponding compiled-in values: altSendsEscape, backarrowKey, backarrowKeyIsErase, deleteIsDEL, metaSendsEscape (Redhat #819588).
xterm-283-1.fc18 has been submitted as an update for Fedora 18. https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/xterm-283-1.fc18
xterm-283-1.fc17 has been submitted as an update for Fedora 17. https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/xterm-283-1.fc17
Package xterm-283-1.fc17: * should fix your issue, * was pushed to the Fedora 17 testing repository, * should be available at your local mirror within two days. Update it with: # su -c 'yum update --enablerepo=updates-testing xterm-283-1.fc17' as soon as you are able to. Please go to the following url: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2012-15860/xterm-283-1.fc17 then log in and leave karma (feedback).
xterm-284-1.fc18 has been submitted as an update for Fedora 18. https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/xterm-284-1.fc18
xterm-284-1.fc17 has been submitted as an update for Fedora 17. https://admin.fedoraproject.org/updates/xterm-284-1.fc17
xterm-284-1.fc18 has been pushed to the Fedora 18 stable repository. If problems still persist, please make note of it in this bug report.