issue(5)

💖 issue(5) 💖

okay so bestie, we're in section 5 of the manual (File Formats Manual, for the record) and this whole page is about prelogin message and identification file. it's a file formats page, so it's all about files, no commands, no flags, just vibes and text files. slay.

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✨ NAME ✨

issue — prelogin message and identification file

like. it's the file. the one that says hi before you even log in. main character energy fr fr. 👑

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

/etc/issue is a text file which contains a message or system identification to be printed before the login prompt.

that's it. that's the whole assignment. it's just a lil text file that gets shown off before anyone types their password, like a bouncer at the club but cute. 🎀

it may contain various @char and \char sequences, if supported by the getty-type program employed on the system.

okay so this is the important part — those @char and \char sequences are a whole thing, but key detail: they're only a thing if the getty-type program running on your system supports them. that's the condition, bestie. don't @ me if your getty isn't on that wave, because it's literally program-dependent. 🦋

lowkey the whole personality of this file depends on which getty-type program you're running, so the vibes are conditional. noted. 📝

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/issue 💅

that's the file. that's the path. it's giving simple, it's giving iconic, it's giving exactly where you'd expect it to live. ✨

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• motd(5)
• agetty(8)
• mingetty(8)

go read those if you wanna know more about the getty-type programs doing the actual supporting, and about motd which is the sibling file that shows up after login instead of before. the duo. the pair. 🌈

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🧚 and that's the whole page, babes 🧚

this was page issue(5) from Linux man-pages 6.20, dated 2025-05-17. love that for us. go forth and edit your /etc/issue responsibly, bestie — and remember, the fancy escapes only work if your getty says so. no cap. 😭💖