what's the diff between console and terminal?
 

Hey all,

Stupid one:

On a SUN box, there is a clear distiction between the Console and a terminal window. Console gets system messgaes, etc.

On Mac OS X, there are seperate apps for Console and Terminal.

But on Linux I cannot figure out what or where console is, and if it is different than any terminal or xterm.

Do you have to go into alt-F1-F6 for consoles, or are those different?

And is there a difference between a console and a terminal? If so, what?

Thanks.

Bret

Perhaps these explain

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.html
http://linuxconsole.sourceforge.net/

Would it be safe to say that consoles work locally and terminals work remotely?

Ok. I have read the Terminal Howto (well, most of it), and this is what I have figured out so far (someone let me know if this is incorrect):

The linux Console is equivalent (or directed) to /dev/tty0 which is in turn equivalent to whichever /dev/tty you are logged into (ALT-F1 though F6). I am not sure how console and tty0 are redirected to the "current display" but it seems to work that way. The $TERM type is also "linux".

A terminal window run from X Windows is apparently a /dev/pts/x device with $TERM type xterm (in my case in redhat 8.0). Not sure exactly what a pty/ptm/pts device is. That part of the howto is over my head!

Does this sound correct?

If so, doen't this mean that, unless you are currently logged into a virtual console (ALT-F1-F6), you will not see console messages?

And lastly, is xterm still the general standard in terminal emulation from X? The howto seemed to indicate it is obsolete. And can xterm (or /dev/pts/x) display console messages?

Thanks again.

Bret

That's essentially it, I believe.

When you log into X, you are switched to vt7 (if you are in X you need to hold down control as well as alt-F<N>). You can see the console messages for X by switching to the virtual terminal you logged into, say control-alt-F1. You see the messages generated by X. Alt-F7 takes you back to x.

I was just using the term x console to refer to whatever X terminal emulation program you prefer to use, be it gnome-terminal, aterm, eterm or whatever.

You can monitor the error messages in an x terminal this way (or you may have some log monitoring gui tool)

That's great info. Thanks!

I had assumed that more than just /var/log/messages went to the console, but the simpler the better, I guess.

And I am going to push my luck and ask about one more thing in this thread.

The Terminal Howto brings up an interesting question that I can't find the answer to:

What exactly is the difference between a terminal emulator like xterm, and a communications terminal app like minicom (or hyperterminal in windows)? Aren't they btoh terminal emulators? If so, why the need for comm apps to issue AT commands to modems?

Sorry. Last groups of questions.

Thanks again!

Bret

In linux, you can pass commands directly to the modem with the x terminal or a virtual terminal. See Troubleshooting ISP Connection Problems.
Because Windows charges so much for so little maybe?

Great ppp article.

Thanks again!

Bret

i'm getting even more confused after reading your posts :(

is it correct to think that
when you log in locally, you are on console; while when you log in remotely, you're on terminal?

but seems to me there can be only one console to a machine....