trivia question: why q=*:* doesn't return same result as q.alt=*:*

[Nawab Zada Asad Iqbal]

Hi,

In my SearchHandler solrconfig, i have q.alt=*:* . This allows me to run
queries which only have `fq` filters and no `q`.

If I remove q.alt from the solrconfig and specify `q=*:*` in the query
parameters, it does not give any results. I also tried `q=*` but of no
avail.

Is there some good reason for this behavior? Since I already know a work
around, this question is only for my curiosity.


Thanks
Nawab