[Trisquel-users] Re : XFCE Trisquel

[magicbanana]

Ctrl+Alt+T opens (in GNOME at least) a virtual terminal. Just try Ctrl+Alt+F1  
(ou F2 ou... F6) to understand the difference. You can come back to the  
graphical session with Ctrl+Alt+F7.

There is, indeed, no need for a graphical server to run a "real" terminal.