I finally found a really dump reason to have my own linux-kernel patch done: it disables virtual terminal blanking.
```
--- drivers/char/console.c.orig Tue Mar 19 15:02:09 2002
+++ drivers/char/console.c Tue Mar 19 15:23:03 2002
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@
int console_blanked;
static int vesa_blank_mode; / 0:none 1:suspendV 2:suspendH 3:powerdown /
-static int blankinterval = 1060HZ;
+static int blankinterval = 0;
static int vesa_off_interval;
static struct tq_struct console_callback_tq = { ```