NAME

mesg − permit or deny messages

SYNOPSIS

mesg [ n ] [ y ]

DESCRIPTION

Mesg with argument n forbids messages via write(1) by revoking non-user write permission on the user’s terminal. Mesg with argument y reinstates permission.  All by itself, mesg reports the current state without changing it. 

EXAMPLE

mesg y

changes the permission to "yes", and the system reports:
Is Yes; Was No
or whatever the current and former state of your message permission is in fact.

FILES

/dev/tty*

SEE ALSO

write(1)

DIAGNOSTICS

Exit status is 0 if messages are receivable, 1 if not, 2 on error. 

7th Edition  —  1/25/82