[RndTbl] Linux "write"

[Trevor Cordes]

On 2017-07-05 Gilbert E. Detillieux wrote:
> As far as write(1) and other chat systems go, this is perhaps more to 
> the point...
> 
> https://xkcd.com/1810/

Ha!  Love the two "walls".

> As a very early user of write(1), I had already grown to hate it long 

Ah, but how do you feel about wall(1)?  Doesn't that still have a bit
more use, or does no one care about wall anymore either... and you
agree with their snubbing of who and u/wtmp?

At a conceptual level, I'm wondering whose is the problem of write not
working with g-t.  If g-t is literally the only terminal in the history
of mankind that doesn't work properly with write, and g-t says
NOTABUG/WONTFIX, then does the onus fall on the write team to, say,
document in the man page that write doesn't work with g-t?  This
"limbo" kind of irks me in a strange way.

> ago, for social/usage reasons more than technical issues, so I don't 
> particularly care if it goes.  And it can take the rest of the 

OK, now I reveal the reason I need "write" to work, as perhaps someone
can think of an alternate way to achieve the same ends.  I use write
in a script that indicates to me when I already have a text file open
in another terminal window.  The window I'm in says the file is open in
another window, and my script writes a ton of *'s to the other window.
Then I can rapidly spot which window has the open file, hit ^L and
proceed from there.

So I'm not using write for any sort of communication with others, it's
to aid me visually.  (I have 16 workspaces and 100+ windows across 2
very high-pixel-count LCDs, and while I remember most of everything
positionally, there's the odd time I forget something.  No, a potential
solution is NOT to just use less ws/windows!)

Could I just open(2) & write(2) to some file representing the pts?
That would have the same effect and mitigate the need for write(1).

Is there something I could do in my wm (sawfish) to instantly switch to
the ws and focus the window with the specific pts?  That would be ideal!

Some other way?  At least we still have the beauty of *NIX in all
likelihood giving me several workarounds...