From: dickey@invisible-island.net
On Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 04:27:13AM -0500, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 04, 2026 at 07:44:07PM -0500, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> > On Wed, Feb 04, 2026 at 10:53:32AM +0100, Chris Hofstaedtler wrote:
> > > On Wed, Feb 04, 2026 at 04:43:25AM +0100, Vincent Lefevre wrote:
> > > > On 2026-02-03 20:32:56 -0500, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> > > > > On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 12:19:04AM +0100, Vincent Lefevre wrote:
> > > > > > Package: xterm
> > > > > > Version: 406-1
> > > > > > Severity: normal
> > > > >
> > > > > perhaps wishlist.
> > > >
> > > > No, as since the removal of utmp, this is now a required feature, as
> > > > said by Chris Hofstaedtler.
> > >
> > > I object to this statement. I filed bugs in the past so each piece
> > > of software can evaluate if it needs/wants changes. If a change is
> > > wanted/warranted/useful at all is in the hands of the software
> > > authors.
> >
> > Which bug report did you file against xterm, proposing to remove utmp?
>
> silence tells me that there was none.
>
> > I see a bug for wtmp (which Sven responded to, pointing out that xterm
> > uses libutempter), but don't see any followup to ensure that libutempter
> > was updated and made to work with systemd.
> >
> > https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?archive=both;d
st=unstable;ordering=normal;repeatmerged=0;src=libutempter
>
> ...looking further, I see that this is not really a bug in xterm, but a
> defective development process at work.
>
> For xterm:
> utmp is wanted to provide a way to display short-term connections.
>
> wtmp isn't used in the configuration that's built with libutempter,
> and since it's unlikely that Debian would package a configuration
> of xterm allowing it to do this, the issue of loginctl is moot.
> (If you have found a way to do this, you should cite systemd's
> documentation to prove that it will work).
>
> Now... xterm's used libutempter since January 2000. If the package
> for libutempter0 is updated to ensure that /run/utmp exists, the
> "who" program can report the information that libutempter would write
> to it:
>
> who /run/utmp
>
> apt-cache says there are a few other programs using libutempter:
>
> libutempter0
> Reverse Depends:
> libutempter-dev
> xwrited
> xterm
> xfce4-terminal
> mosh
> guake
>
> screen apparently does not, but since its upstream terminfo file is long
> out of date, I see that is due to neglect rather than deliberate design.
>
> Other programs would benefit (comparing results from "who", it appears
> that those include urxvt).
>
> So... the way forward here is to reassign this to an appropriate package,
> restoring /run/utmp
>
> I have a fork/NMU proposed for this fix, which I'll tidy up this evening.
I reassigned this to libutempter0, and started by a merge request in case
the most recent developer would prefer that route:
https://salsa.debian.org/cgzones/libutempter/-/merge_requests/2
If there's no response in a reasonable amount of time, I'll try an NMU.
https://mentors.debian.net/package/libutempter/
--
Thomas E. Dickey
https://invisible-island.net
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