Arch Linux

lmellen

Member

From: Fairport, NY

Registered: 2004-06-11

Posts: 120

dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

This is probably a dumb newbie question, but what is the difference between the shell screen and the linux console screen? I used another system before Arch and I believe there was only the shell screen! Does it matter which one is used?  Thanks -- Larry

i3839

Member

Registered: 2004-02-04

Posts: 1,185

Re: dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

The console is the 2D text rendering thing. The shell is Bash, just a program that handles your input and has the console as output.

If on the other hand you mean the console at startup, and you call that the console while you call xterm, etc. shells then the answer is different. It's just a matter of configuration if you automatically start X or not. A lot people use gdm or kdm to get a graphical login screen after bootup, others just type "startx" in the console when they want to start X.

You can switch to the console with Ctrl+Alt+Fn where n is a number between 1 and 6. You can switch between consoles with Alt+Fn, X is on the last console, so to go back to X do Alt+F7.

lmellen

Member

From: Fairport, NY

Registered: 2004-06-11

Posts: 120

Re: dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

Thanks i3839 -- If I wanted to learn shell programming, does it matter which one I use?

i3839

Member

Registered: 2004-02-04

Posts: 1,185

Re: dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

Not really, they all can handle sh scripts and can behave like a sh. Only when you use version specific extensions it matters, but even then most newer ones probably also implement bash's extensions. Anyway, using Bash when learning is safest because most people use Bash.

http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

lmellen

Member

From: Fairport, NY

Registered: 2004-06-11

Posts: 120

Re: dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

Thanks for the website!!! -- Larry

cs25x

Member

Registered: 2004-05-04

Posts: 150

Re: dumb newbie question -- shell vrs linux console

The bash tutorial is your best friend,

http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/

---

--(*(cs25x--));