console

   1. The operator's station of a {mainframe}. In times past, this was a
   privileged  location  that  conveyed  godlike  powers  to anyone with
   fingers  on  its  keys. Under Unix and other modern timesharing OSes,
   such  privileges are guarded by passwords instead, and the console is
   just  the  {tty}  the  system  was  booted from. Some of the mystique
   remains,  however, and it is traditional for sysadmins to post urgent
   messages to all users from the console (on Unix, /dev/console).

   2.  On  microcomputer  Unix  boxes,  the main screen and keyboard (as
   opposed  to  character-only  terminals  talking  to  a  serial port).
   Typically only the console can do real graphics or run {X}.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {cookie monster}{down}{terminal junkie}]