MESG(1) manual page
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mesg - display (or do not display)
messages from other users
mesg [option] [n|y]
The mesg
utility is invoked by a user to control write access others have to the
terminal device associated with standard error output. If write access
is allowed, then programs such as talk(1)
and write(1)
may display messages
on the terminal.
Traditionally, write access is allowed by default. However,
as users become more conscious of various security risks, there is a trend
to remove write access by default, at least for the primary login shell.
To make sure your ttys are set the way you want them to be set, mesg should
be executed in your login scripts.
- n
- Disallow messages.
- y
- Allow
messages to be displayed.
If no arguments are given, mesg shows the current
message status on standard error output.
- -v, --verbose
- Explain what
is being done.
- -V, --version
- Display version information and exit.
- -h, --help
- Display
help text and exit.
The mesg utility exits with one of the following
values:
- Messages are allowed.
- Messages are not allowed.
- >1
- An error has occurred.
/dev/[pt]ty[pq]?
talk(1)
, write(1)
, wall(1)
, login(1)
, xterm(1)
A mesg command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
The mesg
command is part of the util-linux package and is available from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
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