Getchar w/wout echo

[mcdonald at uxe.cso.uiuc.edu]

>>OK, what is the proper and portable way to get a character from stdin
>>without having it echoed to the screen?!!!!

>I wonder what makes this such a misunderstood and flammable topic.

I know the answer to that one!

>Is it such a problem to consider things such as echo, line editing
>and other terminal management tasks be the domain of the operating system,
>(and as such, machine-dependent) ?

It is indeed a problem, but that's the way it is. Too bad all 
operating systems can't do it right (i.e. like MS-DOS :-) )

>Isn't ioctl(), stty(), or fcntl() [or similar device management routine] in
>the same manual as getchar() [no flames about different volumes, please :-)] ?

No, in fact a careful look at my C manuals finds no reference to them
at all. I have absolutely no idea how to use them, or their exact use.
I can guess something from the names - that is all.