-3

https://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.0/doc/X.7.html#sect4

The phrase "display" is usually used to refer to collection of monitors that share a common keyboard and pointer (mouse, tablet, etc.). Most workstations tend to only have one keyboard, and therefore, only one display. Larger, multi-user systems, however, frequently have several displays so that more than one person can be doing graphics work at once. To avoid confusion, each display on a machine is assigned a display number (beginning at 0) when the X server for that display is started. The display number must always be given in a display name.

Some displays share a single keyboard and pointer among two or more monitors. Since each monitor has its own set of windows, each screen is assigned a screen number (beginning at 0) when the X server for that display is started.

Is a terminal a concept only used in the CLI context, while a display (and screen) a concept only used in GUI context?

What is the difference between a display (or a screen) and a terminal?

Is a terminal emulator a display emulator? Vice versa?

Thanks.

Community
  • 1
Tim
  • 101,790
  • 1
    You present the X definitions of "screen" and "display". Terminals, on the other hand, are physical things that predate X. If these are your working definitions, there is no sensible comparison to be made – Fox Mar 14 '19 at 20:57
  • @Fox well there were X terminals ;-) (but let’s not go there). – Stephen Kitt Mar 14 '19 at 21:00
  • Also see https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/506092/does-a-display-server-start-in-a-display-or-a-screen-or-a-monitor – 炸鱼薯条德里克 Mar 14 '19 at 22:44

1 Answers1

1

A terminal emulator can open a GUI window, which is usually called terminal by end-users, does that count as concept used in GUI context?

A Terminal emulator is a program which opens a pty master fd and run programs with the corresponding slave fd as its stdin/stdout/stderr. (We don't include linux kernel implemented console because somehow they're usually not called as terminal emulator, and they don't use pty)

The word, terminal, might be used to refer that pty device, or the opened-to-show-content-to-human window (or not window? like kmscon or fbterm, if nitpicking), or any device that behaves like an bad old terminal device(like tty or ttyS). Depending on context, human language is really not that precise.

炸鱼薯条德里克
  • 1,375