Brian wrote: > Bob Proulx wrote: > > Brian wrote: > > > By default the screen is cleared of boot messages, There is only a login > > > prompt. > > > > Yes. Between util-linux 2.17.2-9 and 2.20.1-4 getty has changed and > > it now clears the screen. This seems like a good thing on the surface > > until you find out that it destroys the boot time messages including > > any errors that are on the screen at the time. To prevent this a new > > The screen clearing was implemented by upstream as a response to > concerns about security. Debian itself has never done it. > > > option --noclear has appeared. Editing the /etc/inittab to add the > > --noclear option to getty will prevent the new screen clearing > > behavior and allow the error messages there to be seen. > > > > 1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty --noclear 38400 tty1 I can see that Debian wouldn't want to be different from upstream on this. But I wish upstream had not gone this way. Because the intent is to protect a clueless user from being clueless. But the practice hurts a cluefull user from being cluefull. The damage to the latter group is worse than the damage to the former group. And this is one of those features that both affects everyone and affects almost no one. When things are working with a graphical login manager then no one will be looking at this information. When there are problems then the messages are cleared and gone and the information is then missing. I really dislike things that cause problems only when there are problems. It is like having a failure to print an error message. > This is one of the first things I do on any install ; I prefer the > traditional way. Me too. It is now part of my standard system setup since Wheezy 7. In this context of console logins and security I am compelled to mention the Secure Attention Key. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_attention_key > > Also in Wheezy 7 the "bootlogd" is broken out into a separate package. > > If you want bootlogs in /var/log as it was in Squeezy 6 then you need > > to install the new package. > > > > apt-get install bootlogd > > This lucid tip encourages me to consider including it as part of my > normal practice. It is part of my standard system setup since Wheezy 7 too. :-) Bob
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