mesg(1) [x11r4 man page]

MESG(1)                                                            User Commands                                                           MESG(1)

NAME

       mesg - display (or do not display) messages from other users

SYNOPSIS

       mesg [option] [n|y]

DESCRIPTION

       The mesg utility is invoked by a user to control write access others have to the terminal device associated with standard error output.  If
       write access is allowed, then programs such as talk(1) and write(1) may display messages on the terminal.

       Traditionally, write access is allowed by default.  However, as users become more conscious of various security risks, there is a trend  to
       remove write access by default, at least for the primary login shell.  To make sure your ttys are set the way you want them to be set, mesg
       should be executed in your login scripts.

ARGUMENTS

       n      Disallow messages.

       y      Allow messages to be displayed.

       If no arguments are given, mesg shows the current message status on standard error output.

OPTIONS

       -v, --verbose
              Explain what is being done.

       -V, --version
              Display version information and exit.

       -h, --help
              Display help text and exit.

EXIT STATUS

       The mesg utility exits with one of the following values:

            0     Messages are allowed.

            1     Messages are not allowed.

           >1     An error has occurred.

FILES

       /dev/[pt]ty[pq]?

SEE ALSO

       login(1), talk(1), write(1), wall(1), xterm(1)

HISTORY

       A mesg command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

AVAILABILITY

       The mesg command is part of the util-linux package and is available from https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.

util-linux                                                           July 2014                                                             MESG(1)

mesg(1) 							   User Commands							   mesg(1)

NAME

       mesg - permit or deny messages

SYNOPSIS

       mesg [-n | -y | n | y]

DESCRIPTION

       The  mesg  utility  will  control  whether other users are allowed to send messages via write(1), talk(1), or other utilities to a terminal
       device. The terminal device affected is determined by searching for the first terminal in the sequence of devices associated with  standard
       input,  standard output, and standard error, respectively. With no arguments, mesg reports the current state without changing it. Processes
       with appropriate privileges may be able to send messages to the terminal independent of the current state.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -n|n	Denies permission to other users to send message to the terminal. See write(1).

       -y|y	Grants permission to other users to send messages to the terminal.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of mesg: LANG, LC_ALL,	LC_CTYPE,  LC_MES-
       SAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0     if messages are receivable.

       1     if messages are not receivable.

       2     on error.

FILES

       /dev/tty*      terminal devices

       /dev/pts/*     terminal devices

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWcsu			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |Standard			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       talk(1), write(1), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)

SunOS 5.11							    31 Oct 1997 							   mesg(1)