Bug#1125682: xterm sessions do not appear in loginctl output

Thomas Dickey <[email protected]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 04:27:13 -0500

Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.x
Message-ID	<aYr58RPsRvVCdNM___2761.29964492924$1770715772$gmane$org@prl-debianold-64.jexium-island.net>

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;dist=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out of date, I see that is due to neglect rather than deliberate design.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.

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <[email protected]>
https://invisible-island.net

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