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Moving the Linux Kernel Console To User-Space

Posted by Soulskill on from the cuddly-console-seeks-loving-home dept.

jones_supa sends this quote from Phoronix: "David Herrmann has provided an update on his ambitious initiative to kill off the Linux kernel console. Herrmann has long been working on making the Linux kernel CONFIG_VT option unnecessary for providing a Linux console by punting it off to user-space. The Linux kernel VT console hasn't been changed much in the past two decades and Herrmann is hoping to see it replaced with a user-space solution he's been developing that would allow for multi-seat support, a hardware-accelerated console, full internalization, and other features."

2 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Re:why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The idea is to replace a kernel functionality with few features and several crucial limitations with a user space solution that is fully-fledged. The fully-fledged solution is not what you want to have inside the kernel, therefore taking the console to user space.

    The need for this arose primarily with the introduction of kernel mode setting etc. Before these advances, the console would somewhat be lame by definition. Now it is much more viable to have a nice console even without a windowing system and that opens new applications to a user-space console.

    E.g. look at Terminology. It is a virtual terminal emulator from the Enlightenment guys, built on the EFL core libraries. It works with David Herrmanns patches, without X11 or any display server!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD-BJThtNnc (here run within X)

    Compare this to the basic kernel console. It could replace it if David's work gets through.

  2. Re:But pleeeease keep the key-combo by poizan42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    That is why you have Ctrl+Alt+SysRq+R ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key )