TTY

When a Linux desktop environment does not work, Linux falls back to the TTY. The TTY is a terminal emulator and can be used as fallback to troubleshoot the system. It is also the only way to operate with the system during and after installing minimal distributions like Gentoo or Arch.

Troubleshooting

It can happen that a system or desktop environment is unusable. To open a TTY anywhere use the Ctrl + Alt + Fn[1-6] combination.

The TTY can be used as any other terminal emulator.