[Bug 49923] New: [Wine 5.18] Wineconsole curses backend support was removed.

[WineHQ Bugzilla]

https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49923

Bug ID: 49923
           Summary: [Wine 5.18] Wineconsole curses backend support was
                    removed.
           Product: Wine
           Version: 5.18
          Hardware: x86-64
                OS: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: blocker
          Priority: P5
         Component: -unknown
          Assignee: [e-mail]
          Reporter: [e-mail]
      Distribution: ArchLinux

Hello,

Today, after an update of my ArchLinux based server I was saddened and
frustrated to find out that in Wine 5.18, the curses backend was removed from
the available command line options of 'wineconsole'.

I personally rely on wineconsole and _ESPECIALLY_, the curses backend -
wineconsole is spawned as a systemd service configured to attach a pseudo
terminal (/dev/ptmx), in order to run a backend for a Windows application I
wrote.

However, in Wine 5.18, the curses backend was removed, quoting the changelog:

wineconsole: Remove curses backend.

This is a total no-go for me and many others running Windows binaries through
wineconsole on servers, since we need to be able to run wineconsole without a
display / using a terminal session.

Can you please elucidate as for why the curses backend was removed in the first
place?

I now have to downgrade to downgrade to 5.17 in order to be able to host the
service again.

This is a HUGE loss of functionality for those using Wine / wineconsole on
servers.

PLEASE consider adding the curses backend again.

Best Regards,
William Kane