The breakthrough for me was figuring out how to make the terminal
write a config file describing all its defaults onto an NFS server.
You can do this by using my sample
config file, which allows the built-in SetupTool (AltFunction-F3)
to commit changes by writing to an adjunct config file on the NFS
server. There is some option in the SetupTool to save everything,
rather than saving only what you have changed like it usually does.
It's probably analagous to the config-auto-saved-info =
all-changes at the end of the sample config file, but I don't
remember exactly how to do it.
My sample config uses a font server. When using a font server like this, there's no need to install the NCDware fonts on the NFS host. In fact, not only is there no need, but you shouldn't lest some hardcoded default refer to them. One of the biggest problems with these devices is things that silently fail when they should work, or the other way around. Just a few files will make the terminal happy:
The terminal will run with even fewer files, but it will grumble.
Of course, you still need to start xfs, and you need to start it on the standard port 7000, not some goofy Linux-specific port that has been shoved out of the way by your ``distro'' to handle some other foolish package.
If your terminal acts goofy, maybe someone booted it with less elegant
config files than mine, which crammed things into the NVRAM. Please
don't use the NVRAM---it's annoying. If you always put
config-auto-save-nvram = false in your config files
before any apply, that should stop NVRAM-writing. To
clear the NVRAM, use <ESC>, NV, L, S in the boot monitor.