/usr/bin/luit --help — Chainguard OS Manuals

From luit 20260907-r1 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running luit -h (exit 0). permalink

Usage: /usr/bin/luit [options] [ program [ args ] ]

Options:
  -V                  show version
  -alias filename     location of the locale alias file
  -argv0 name         set child's name
  -c                  simple converter stdin/stdout
  -encoding encoding  use this encoding rather than current locale's encoding
  -fill-fontenc       fill in one-one mapping in -show-fontenc report
  -g0 set             set output G0 charset (default ASCII)
  -g1 set             set output G1 charset
  -g2 set             set output G2 charset
  -g3 set             set output G3 charset
  -gl gn              set output GL charset
  -gr gk              set output GR charset
  -h                  show this message
  -ilog filename      log all input to this file
  -k7                 generate 7-bit characters for input
  -kg0 set            set input G0 charset
  -kg1 set            set input G1 charset
  -kg2 set            set input G2 charset
  -kg3 set            set input G3 charset
  -kgl gn             set input GL charset
  -kgr gk             set input GR charset
  -kls                generate locking shifts SI/SO
  +kss                disable generation of single-shifts for input
  +kssgr              use GL after single-shift
  -list               list encodings recognized by this program
  -list-builtin       list built-in encodings
  -list-fontenc       list available ".enc" encoding files
  -list-iconv         list iconv-supported encodings
  -olog filename      log all output to this file
  +ols                disable locking-shifts in output
  +osl                disable charset-selection sequences in output
  +oss                disable single-shifts in output
  +ot                 disable interpretation of all sequences in output
  -p                  do parent/child handshake
  -prefer list        override preference between fontenc/iconv lookups
  -show-builtin enc   show details of a given built-in encoding
  -show-fontenc enc   show details of an ".enc" encoding file
  -show-iconv enc     show iconv encoding in ".enc" format
  -t                  testing (initialize locale but no terminal)
  -v                  verbose (repeat to increase level)
  -x                  exit as soon as child dies
  --                  end of options

Options (35)

Option	Description	Source
`-V`	Print luit's version and quit.	help + man
`-alias` filename	the locale alias file (default: /usr/share/X11/locale/locale.alias).	help + man
`-argv0` name	Set the child's name (as passed in argv[0]).	help + man
`-c`	Function as a simple converter from standard input to standard output.	help + man
`-encoding` encoding	Set up luit to use encoding rather than the current locale's encoding.	help + man
`-fill-fontenc`	fill in one-one mapping in -show-fontenc report	help
`-g0` set	Set the output charset initially selected in G0.	help + man
`-g1` set	Set the output charset initially selected in G1.	help + man
`-g2` set	Set the output charset initially selected in G2.	help + man
`-g3` set	Set the output charset initially selected in G3.	help + man
`-gl` gn	Set the initial assignment of GL in the output.	help + man
`-gr` gk	Set the initial assignment of GR in the output.	help + man
`-h`	Display a usage and options message on the standard output and quit.	help + man
`-ilog` filename	Log into filename all the bytes received from the child.	help + man
`-k7`	Generate seven-bit characters for keyboard input.	help + man
`-kg0` set	Set the input charset initially selected in G0.	help + man
`-kg1` set	Set the input charset initially selected in G1.	help + man
`-kg2` set	Set the input charset initially selected in G2.	help + man
`-kg3` set	Set the input charset initially selected in G3.	help + man
`-kgl` gn	Set the initial assignment of GL in the input.	help + man
`-kgr` gk	Set the initial assignment of GR in the input.	help + man
`-kls`	Generate locking shifts (SO/SI) for keyboard input.	help + man
`-list`	List the supported charsets and encodings, then quit.	help + man
`-list-builtin`	List the built-in encodings used as a fallback when data from iconv or fontenc is missing.	help + man
`-list-fontenc`	List the encodings provided by “.enc” files originally distributed with the fontenc library.	help + man
`-list-iconv`	List the encodings and locales supported by the iconv library.	help + man
`-olog` filename	Log into filename all the bytes sent to the terminal emulator.	help + man
`-p`	In startup, establish a handshake between parent and child processes.	help + man
`-prefer` list	Set the lookup-order preference for character set information.	help + man
`-show-builtin` enc	Show a built-in encoding, e.g., from a “.enc” file using the “.enc” format.	help + man
`-show-fontenc` enc	Show a given encoding, e.g., from a “.enc” file using the “.enc” format.	help + man
`-show-iconv` enc	Show a given encoding, using the “.enc” format.	help + man
`-t`	Initialize luit using the locale and command-line options, but do not open a pty connection.	help + man
`-v`	verbose (repeat to increase level)	help + man
`-x`	Exit as soon as the child dies.	help + man

Examples (3) from the manual page, untested

xterm -u8 -e luit
The most typical use of luit is to adapt an instance of XTerm to the locale's encoding.
LC_ALL=fr_FR luit ssh legacy-machine
If you are running in a UTF-8 locale but need to access a remote machine that doesn't support UTF-8, luit can adapt the remote output to your terminal:
luit -encoding 'ISO 8859-1' emacs -nw
Luit is also useful with applications that hard-wire an encoding that is different from the one normally used on the system or want to use legacy escape sequences for multilingual output.

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.