Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!jik
From: jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: tty
Keywords: tty /dev
Message-ID: <1990Feb11.053406.19699@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 11 Feb 90 05:34:06 GMT
References: <689@uncle.UUCP> <1044@prlhp1.prl.philips.co.uk>
Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system)
Reply-To: jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 21

In article <689@uncle.UUCP>, donlash@uncle.UUCP (Donald Lashomb) writes:
> In simple terms: /dev/tty is not connected to any single *real* tty, it
> is a special program that connects to ->your<- terminal, whatever it may be.
> Things like /dev/tty01..02..n are connected to *real* ttys.

Two points:

1. /dev/tty is not a "special program", it is a "special device".  A minor but
   significant difference.

2. Not all numbered tty's are connected to "*real* ttys"; I'm not even
sure what
   you mean by a "real" tty, so I'm assuming that by "real" you mean
"physical".
   However, pseudo-ttys (ptys) don't fall into that category, and yet a program
   running on a pty which opens /dev/tty *will* get something useful.

Jonathan Kamens			              USnail:
MIT Project Athena				11 Ashford Terrace
jik@Athena.MIT.EDU				Allston, MA  02134
Office: 617-253-8495			      Home: 617-782-0710