Hi,

I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
/etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
...., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me? Thanks.

Regards,
Bob

owl.yangp wrote:
> I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
> /etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
> ..., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
> only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me? Thanks.

Assuming you are running with text logins, you can hit <Alt>-<F1> through
<Alt>-<F6> to switch between 6 different login sessions.

Kevin J. Phillips wrote:
> owl.yangp wrote:
>
>>I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
>>/etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
>>..., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
>>only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me? Thanks.
>
>
> Assuming you are running with text logins, you can hit <Alt>-<F1> through
> <Alt>-<F6> to switch between 6 different login sessions.

Even if you're running in graphical mode, you can get to the text
screens with ctrl-alt-f1, etc., then back to X with ctrl-alt-f9,
although I usually reduce the ttys to only 4. (I don't think I've ever
used more than 3 at once. YMMV) Getting to a command line is handy
when X decides to lock up (but leaves you with the keyboard - hey, it
happens), since the only other way to shut down typically involves the
power switch (argh!).

I think when some jobs is occupying your current terminal, you probably
need another one to do other jobs...

On 2005-11-28, owl.yangp@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
> /etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
> ..., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
> only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me?

Have you never had more than one window open in an X session?

When I was running Linuz without X, I used 24 ttys.

--
Chris F.A. Johnson, author | <http://cfaj.freeshell.org>
Shell Scripting Recipes: | My code in this post, if any,
A Problem-Solution Approach | is released under the
2005, Apress | GNU General Public Licence

Allen Kistler wrote:
> Kevin J. Phillips wrote:
>
>>owl.yangp wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
>>>/etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
>>>..., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
>>>only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me? Thanks.
>>
>>
>>Assuming you are running with text logins, you can hit <Alt>-<F1> through
>><Alt>-<F6> to switch between 6 different login sessions.
>
>
> Even if you're running in graphical mode, you can get to the text
> screens with ctrl-alt-f1, etc., then back to X with ctrl-alt-f9,

For me, with Red Hat, it is

then back to X with ctrl-alt-f7
^
>>>-------------|

> although I usually reduce the ttys to only 4. (I don't think I've ever
> used more than 3 at once. YMMV) Getting to a command line is handy
> when X decides to lock up (but leaves you with the keyboard - hey, it
> happens), since the only other way to shut down typically involves the
> power switch (argh!).


--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 07:35:00 up 1 day, 18:04, 3 users, load average: 4.45, 4.23, 4.19

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 06:52:22 +0100, Allen Kistler <ackistler@oohay.moc> wrote:

> Kevin J. Phillips wrote:

> Even if you're running in graphical mode, you can get to the text
> screens with ctrl-alt-f1, etc., then back to X with ctrl-alt-f9,

Oops, on my system it's ctrl-alt-f7.

Never heard of X running on tty9. Is there a distro that does that
by default? Of course, it is easy to set up X to run off the tty you want.

-Enrique

24 ttys ?
asuhashuhsauhasu

24 ttys ? asuhashuhsauhasu
6 is enough to me

Allen Kistler <ackistler@oohay.moc> writes:

>Kevin J. Phillips wrote:
>> owl.yangp wrote:
>>
>>>I'm a newbie and I'm learning Linux. One thing that confuses me is, in
>>>/etc/inittab, why does the system listens to 6 terminals (tty1, tty2,
>>>..., tty6) at the same time? Isn't just one is enough cause you have
>>>only one keyboard? Anybody can explain this to me? Thanks.
>>
>>
>> Assuming you are running with text logins, you can hit <Alt>-<F1> through
>> <Alt>-<F6> to switch between 6 different login sessions.

>Even if you're running in graphical mode, you can get to the text
>screens with ctrl-alt-f1, etc., then back to X with ctrl-alt-f9,

Back to X with ctrl-alt-F7, not F9 ( unless you have more than one X
session running, but F7 is the first)

>although I usually reduce the ttys to only 4. (I don't think I've ever
>used more than 3 at once. YMMV) Getting to a command line is handy
>when X decides to lock up (but leaves you with the keyboard - hey, it
>happens), since the only other way to shut down typically involves the
>power switch (argh!).