my program gets keyboard inputs using getchar(). My code executes, and the program runs fine, providing the desired gui. It runs on puppy linux on an Eee PC. However, the keyboard input, which I use to control a few functions only works when I have a terminal open on top of the program window, and the terminal is the focus. When the terminal is not the focus, or if I do not execute the program from the terminal, the key input does not work. Is this a system problem or a C problem? I have the usual includes, termios, stdio. Can anyone suggest a fix?