talk(1)                                                         talk(1)

  talk

  NAME

    talk, talkd - talk to another user

  SYNOPSIS

    talk address [terminal]

    /usr/sbin/in.talkd

  DESCRIPTION

    The talk(1) utility is a two-way, screen-oriented communications program.
    You can use it to communicate with the user specified by address, which is
    the other user's login name. On Interix, do not specify a domain as part
    of the address.

    If the recipient is logged in to more than one terminal, the message
    appears on any one of the accessible terminals, unless you specify a
    particular terminal as the terminal argument. (The format of terminal is
    the same as the TTY field from the output of who(1)).

    The talk protocol is case-independent and checks only the first 11
    characters of the name. If the recipient is ambiguous (the login names are
    identical in the first 11 characters, although the domains can be
    different or the same), specify the terminal to identify the correct
    recipient.

    When you start talk(1), it sends a message like this one to the recipient:

    Message from your name
    talk: connection requested by your_address
    talk: respond with: talk your_address

    To establish communication, the recipient types the following command:

    $ talk your_address

    Once communication is established, both users can type their messages
    simultaneously with their output displayed in different parts of the
    screen.

    Special commands are described in the following table:

    Command                              Action

    Alert character (usually CTRL+G)     Alert recipient's terminal

    CTRL+L                               Refresh sender's screen regions

    EOF (use CTRL+C to terminate the     End session
    session; using CTRL+C on one side
    ends the session on both sides)

    Erase character (usually CTRL+H o    Backspace
    backspace)

    Kill character (usually CTRL+U)      Clear line

    In order for talk(1) to run, the system must be configured to run
    ntalkd(1) through the inetd(1) service; see the inetd(1) reference page.

  DIAGNOSTICS

    On successful completion, talk(1) returns an exit status of 0. If an error
    occurred, it returns >0.

  SEE ALSO

    stty(1)

    who(1)