/dev/tty problem/*quick-fix* on UNIXPC

[Todd Day]

Not long ago, I asked for help about a problem with my /dev/tty.
Whenever I tried to run 'rn' from the console, I got the following:

can't open /dev/tty

I noticed that 'cpio' would also core dump because of a /dev/tty problem.
Also, 'su' always replied "Sorry" even before I had a chance to type in
a password.  This ONLY happened at the console!  All of the above programs
run fine on any of the terminals I have hooked up.  I have terms on
tty000 and tty002, and a modem on tty001.  This problem did not occur
before I added the RS-232 expansion board with tty000 and tty001.

I got all sorts of responses about changing 'rn' to do read/write opens
on /dev/tty.  I did not really feel like messing with the news software...

So, I tried some command line hacking.  I found that

rn >/dev/window

allowed rn to run.  Next, I tried

rn >/dev/w1 </dev/w1

and it totally worked!  This looked like a bad botch, so I tried
putting the following in my .kshrc file:

alias rn "windy rn"

Now, rn runs like a champ from the console.  Also, I get the added "feature"
of coming back to the screen as it existed before I executed rn.

Any comments on why this works?  Best comments get summarized, in case of
tie, a coin will be flipped.
 
   /| Todd Day (805)968-9352 |\               "Hurt me, punish me.
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   \| Isla Vista, CA   93117 |/                 todd at ivucsb.UUCP