> >>> X11 server in PROM is very nice, it allows using the X terminal as a
> >>> RS-232 console for headless computers without a catch-22 of needing the
> >>> computer to be up to serve the X-server code to the X terminal and needing
> >>> the X terminal up to see why the computer will not boot.  If you have a
> >>> problem booting the computer, you can use X's cut-and-paste to capture
> >>> the messages.
> >> In the South, we call this "going around your elbow to get to your 
> >> thumb."  Anyone who needs an RS-232 console isn't going to bother with 
> >> this, there are tons of existing solutions on the market.
> > 
> > What bother?  Plug the RS-232 cable into the port on the X-terminal.
> > Done.  It works very nicely.
> 
> Yes it works, but you didn't address my point?  Who in the heck buys an 
> entire X terminal just for an RS-232 console?  Almost nobody, I would bet.

It's not *just* a console.  It is an X11 server *and* a console.
The console is "free with purchase".

> Heck, that's the whole point of headless.

Sometimes machines are headless because they don't have video.
Sometimes machines are headless because the brain dead video
isn't compatible.
And so on.  There a lots of reasons a machine might be headless.

> >> Even better are the "ethernet console" devices, which translate 
> >> video/mouse/keyboard signals into packets sent over a network to the 
> >> remote administrator's console.
> > 
> > a) What makes you think that a headless computer *has* video/mouse/keyboard
> >    signals?
> 
> Most servers do in my experience.

Your experience is quite limited.
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