Subject: Re: On /dev/console, /dev/constty and the TIOCCONS ioctl
To: David Laight <david@l8s.co.uk>
From: Thor Lancelot Simon <tls@rek.tjls.com>
List: tech-kern
Date: 10/04/2003 11:45:17
On Sat, Oct 04, 2003 at 10:26:22AM +0100, David Laight wrote:
> > ... and post a diff.
> 
> See below:
> The cons.c change is that required to revert to the old behaviour,
> I also added cn_redirect() to localise the constty redirect.
> 
> If the change had been larger I wouldn't have committed it.
> 
> The fundamental problem I was trying to solve is that you can't
> have use /dev/console as a terminal and support TIOCCONS redirecting
> console output elsewhere.  NetBSD, as shipped, tries to allow both.

Yes, you can.  You run the getty on the underlying hardware device
(e.g. /dev/ttyE0) and redirect the console however you like.  It works.
Something similar would work for sysinst.  Do we actually have any ports
left that have a separate "console" device that does *not* have an
underlying hardware tty?