On Jul 31, 2025, mick.crane wrote: > I've never really known what a serial console is. > Say in relation to a Raspberry Pi or Arduino Skipping a *LOT* of history (and linguistics, etc), a "serial console" is a "console" (user interface) provided remotely to the device in question over a serial communications channel. I don't believe the term really came into use until *after* ethernet took over. You see this pretty frequently in networking gear or similar devices that don't have need for their own "video" output capabilities (VGA or whatever). Provided that the network is actually working, chances are that you won't use the "serial console" to manage the device -- you'll just use telnet or ssh, rather than lugging your laptop and a serial cable down to the network closet. > I assumed a serial console was a device with a screen and keyboard. If you're thinking of things like the VT-100; I believe that the physical device would be referred to as a "Terminal" (which would then allow you to access the machine Console). It's pretty fuzzy though -- since if "console" means "user interface", then the VT-100 (being a physical manifestation of "user interface") is a console. Not 100% sure what makes the distinction there. > When people talk about a serial console they are talking about > connecting a Debian PC to a device with a parallel, wired cable to a > parallel port or an adaptor on a PC and emulating this console thing > with software? Well, a "Serial" cable, but otherwise yes. The "console" itself isn't really emulated. > Like a telnet connection? Pretty much, except telnet is run over TCP/IP instead of a serial port. -- |_|O|_| |_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert |O|O|O| PGP: DDAB 23FB 19FA 7D85 1CC1 E067 6D65 70E5 4CE7 2860
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