Sun Meta key handling in VNC

[Mark Jackson]

I must be doing something stupid, because if this were a real problem
it would surely be in the FAQ:

Sun's Cut, Copy, and Paste keys can be emulated with the key
combinations Meta-x, Meta-c, and Meta-v.  When running an X server such
as Xoftware on PC hardware one uses Alt-x, Alt-c, and Alt-v instead.

These mappings work when using VNC, but only for *some* Solaris
applications.  That is, I can run vncviewer from a Solaris box and use
the Meta key combinations, or run vncviewer from a Wintel box (NT or
98) and use the Alt key combinations, and achieve the Cut, Copy, Paste
function in, for example, OpenWindows Textedit.  However these same
combinations fail in, for example, OpenWindows Mailtool compose windows
(a bare x, c, or v is inserted instead).  To reiterate, when working
directly (not through VNC) the Meta key combinations work in all
programs, as do the Alt key combinations when working from a Wintel box
using Xoftware.

What is different about the way VNC handles the Alt or Meta key (either
server-side or client-side), and how do I get it to stop?

-- 
Mark Jackson - http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson
	It is not easy, these days, to go beyond the bounds of taste.
					- Paul Goldberger