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# 8  
Old 03-05-2001
I think most UNIX folks use X as their desktop and then use X Terminals for command lines. If you use a basic console you are limited to the console unless you use the virtual consoles (like in Linux) where you can shift from console to console using the F(function) (or similar) keys.

However, in most X based desktops you have much more control over your command line terminals (xterms). So, if are going to do a bunch of compiling and working on a lot of different projects, having a desktop to launch X terminals makes life much easier.

On the other hand, if you are just running a server for your web, firewall, ftp, mail or other network service, then there may be little benefit to using the extra memory on your X environment.

Since you are just learning, you need to also learn the X environment, including X server and other X related utilities sooner-than-later. X is an integral part of all UNIX environments and helps teach many essentials too.

This does not mean that you should use X GUIs to change directories and play in your filesystem (like Windows Explorer); using command line utilties like find and cd to explore the filesystem is better and more efficient, IMHO. However, having many open X Terms can be very helpful if you like to multitask and do many things at once. In other words, you can be a command line guru via the X environment. That is what most people do.

[Edited by Neo on 03-05-2001 at 09:37 PM]
 
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LEARN ABOUT FREEBSD

conscontrol

CONSCONTROL(8)						    BSD System Manager's Manual 					    CONSCONTROL(8)

NAME

     conscontrol -- control physical console devices

SYNOPSIS

     conscontrol [list]
     conscontrol mute on | off
     conscontrol add | delete console
     conscontrol set | unset console

DESCRIPTION

     The conscontrol utility is used to examine and modify the physical devices which back the virtual console devices.  If no arguments (or only
     the list command) are specified, the current console settings are shown.

     There are two types of logical consoles; a high level console which is represented by /dev/console, and a low level console.  The low level
     console is used for kernel printf(9) and ddb(4) debugger support, while the high level console is used by user programs like syslogd(8).
     Multiple device support is implemented only for the low level console; the high level console is set to the first device in the console list.

     Multiple console support may be invoked by passing the kernel the -D flag from the boot loader, or by using conscontrol to change the list of
     console devices after the system has booted.

     The following options are available:

     add | delete console
	     Add or delete a physical device from the logical console.	The device must support low-level console operations.  Adding a device
	     will place it at the front of the list of console devices; the first device is used for the high level console.

	     The console argument is the name of a console device in /dev; the name of the directory may be omitted.

     mute on | off
	     Change the state of console muting.  All console output is suppressed when console muting is on.

     set | unset console
	     Set or unset the virtual console.	When unset, output from the system, such as the kernel printf(9), always goes out to the real main
	     console.  When set, it goes to another.  This is an interface to the tty ioctl TIOCCONS.

SEE ALSO

     sio(4), syscons(4), tty(4), vt(4), boot(8), loader(8)

HISTORY

     The conscontrol utility first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0.

AUTHORS

     Jonathan Lemon

BSD
								  April 14, 2011							       BSD