Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!mcnc!ece-csc!ncrcae!cs-col!vause
From: vause@cs-col.Columbia.NCR.COM (Sam Vause)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: /etc/issue
Keywords: getty issue login
Message-ID: <236@cs-col.Columbia.NCR.COM>
Date: 17 May 89 20:39:39 GMT
References: <222@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: vause@cs-col.Columbia.NCR.COM (Sam Vause)
Distribution: usa
Organization: NCR Customer Services Support Team, Columbia, SC
Lines: 34

In article <222@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> stailey@iris613.gsfc.nasa.gov (Ken Stailey) writes:
>In section 4 of every Sys V manual I have seen there is a very short manual
>page about the file "/etc/issue" and how it is printed as a login message by
>getty.
>
>Reproduced in part w.o./permission from AT&T:
>
>"The file /etc/issue contains the _issue_ or project identifcation to be
> printed as a login prompt.  This is an ASCII file which is read by [the]
> program _getty_ and then written to any terminal spawned or respawed from
> the _lines_ file."
>
>The trouble is it doesn't work as advertised, and there's no docs for the 
>mysterious "lines" file.
>
>Any help on this will be greatly appreciated.


Well, you're right, in part.  The man page *IS* misleading to the casual or
unexperienced (read:  unsuffered!) UNIX user.  The mysterious "lines" file
is the /etc/inittab file.  The man page certainly could be better written...

BTW, the NCR TOWER doesn't have any problem with the advertised operation.  
Perhaps there is a compile option to /etc/getty which precluded the display
of the /etc/issue contents...


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