From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Oct 22 05:27:54 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id CDC29596 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:27:54 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 909615F9 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:27:54 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-84-5.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.84.5]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 6D2B53CE9C; Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:27:46 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id s9M5RiDI003064; Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:27:45 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:27:44 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Lars Eighner Subject: Re: Keep using syscons -- how? Message-Id: <20141022072744.9a7574eb.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: Reply-To: Polytropon Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 05:27:54 -0000 On Wed, 22 Oct 2014 04:25:12 -0500 (CDT), Lars Eighner wrote: > What do I have to do or not do to keep being able to use syscons in VGA > mode? Is there any way to keep the ability to switch between xwindows and > syscons (in VGA i.e. text mode)? Allow me a more general question. I'm not asking as a "means of insult", but because I'm really interested in the answer: Why not use terminal emulators (xterm, rxvt, konsole, gnome-terminal etc.) inside an X session? I have been using "real" text mode (as well as switching between a running X session and virtual terminals) for a very long time, and I was totally comfortable with the 80x25 screen. Today I find myself using terminal emulators in X, scattered across several virtual desktops, and only seeing the text mode console when the system is booting. I usually don't leave X anymore. The only exception is when I have to do system recovery operations inside a limited environment (single-user mode, or also multi-user mode with specific mount options and no X running)... What are reasons (here: your reasons) for switching to text mode from an X session and using the "real" text mode console? > The command line is already useless in every Linux distribution I can find. Some Linux distributions (usually "the more professional ones") allow easy access to the command line within X, as described above, but in case X isn't running, the text mode consoles are still accessible, even though their "enhanced" screen modes (bigger than 80x25) can cause trouble on some displays which don't display the screen content properly, or don't display it at all. The tiny size of the default fonts may also be a problem on small screens. Yes, I know, _everyone_ has a supermega and ulta HD wide 23" plasma screen these days. :-) > Is that the way BSDs are all going? I hope not! -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...