talk(1) allows two users to chat. It splits the screen in
half, horizontally. To request a chat with another user, use this command:
$ talk <person> [ttyname] |
If you specify just a username, the chat request is assumed to be local,
so only local users are queried. The ttyname is required if you want to
ring a user on a specific user (if the user is logged in more than once).
The required information for talk can be obtained from
the w(1) command.
talk can also ring users on remote hosts. For the username
you simply specify an email address. talk will try to
contact that remote user on that host.
talk is somewhat limited. It only supports two users and
is half-duplex.
ytalk(1) is a backwards compatible replacement for talk. It
comes with Slackware as the ytalk command. The syntax is
similar, but has a few differences:
$ ytalk <username>[#ttyname] |
The username and terminal are specified the same as under
talk, except you must put them together with the hash
mark (#).
ytalk offers several advantages:
It supports more than two users.
A menu of options that can be brought up anytime with
Esc.
You can shell out while still in the talk session.
Plus more...
If you're a server administrator, you'll want to make sure that the ntalk
port is enabled in /etc/inetd.conf.
ytalk needs that to work properly.