Virtual Consoles
The final stage of the boot process starts one or more programs that allow you to log in to the system console. Linux has two primary display modes: console (text) mode, and an X Window System server (graphics mode, usually via a display manager). The kernel boots in console mode, but on most distributions the system switches over to graphics mode near when the rc*.d commands complete.
Linux has several virtual consoles. Each virtual console may run in graphics or text mode. When in text mode, you can switch between consoles with an ALT-Function key combination — for example, ALT-F1 takes you to /dev/tty1, ALT-F2 goes to /dev/tty2, and so on.
A virtual console used by XFree86 in graphics mode is slightly different. Rather than getting ...
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