On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 11:28:07AM +0100, Lorenzo wrote: > side note, not a blocker: is wall still working on Debian systems? > I can't print any message with it on my system, and i found > https://sources.debian.org/src/util-linux/2.41-5/debian/NEWS#L1-L9 > https://tracker.debian.org/news/1515294/accepted-util-linux-2393-11-source-into-unstable/
Yes, wall still 'works' on Debian but with limitations. The change mentioned above affects the ability of non-root users to broadcast to other users' terminals who had permitted it with 'mesg y' (also now removed), it doesn't stop root from using it. However, I am not sure where Debian's wall gets its logged-in users list; it links with libsystemd so I assume it relies on using elogind to record sessions. It may therefore be that your sessions are not recorded. Conversely, if using the derivative Devuan OS, note that the users list will be obtained from /run/utmp to which 'login' will write (due to not linking core utilities with libsystemd and therefore not having local sessions recorded at all without this being re-enabled) but where X terminal sessions will likely not be written.
