Because you asked the question
And the answer is because you may want to send messages to the console after the controlling tty has died.
More info: check out the specs on /dev/console
Type: Posts; User: Kennedy
Because you asked the question
And the answer is because you may want to send messages to the console after the controlling tty has died.
More info: check out the specs on /dev/console
ALT-F1 is a tty, as is ALT-F2 - ALT-F7 (F7 is mostly used for X<something>). THE console, however, is how the kernel talks to the world. There is a big difference between the console and a tty.
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Note that the CONSOLE is different from a TTY. CONSOLE should not close, _ever_ (keeping in mind that if you don't have one, it still NEVER closes). In fact, it even stays alive after the kernel...