>> (I.e., I start emacs on virtual terminal 3 and I
  >> want to move it to virtual terminal 2)

  hans> Look at screen for character based apps.

  hans> emacs has a way to attach to another emacs
  hans> session similar to vnc. I think you have to
  hans> actually close the local window before you can
  hans> open it remotely, though.

  hans> Time for the emacs people to pipe up :).

That would be me, but I'm not sure I understand the
question. I'll tell what I know about that sounds
similar.

Whether the following runs with GNU Emacs I do not
know, but I think so.

With XEmacs you can start a daemon process running
called gnuserv. It comes with the distribution, and
its' started within XEmacs once it's running with M-x
gnuserv-start. (Usually inserted in startup files.)
This process listens for calls to it from external
sources. The process runs on a per-user basis, by
setting up a directory in /tmp/gsrvdir${UID} and
putting a socket file in that directory to communicate
with.

There are a number of ways in which this is useful.

I have the following environment variables set inside
XEmacs, where I also run a lot of shells.

CVSEDITOR=gnuclient
EDITOR=gnuclient
FCEDIT=gnuclient
VISUAL=gnuclient

That way anytime I want to call a shell utility that
uses the value of one of those variables, it
automatically pops up a new window with the required
stuff.

I can also run a shell command lines like this:

  $ gnuclient "filename"

to edit filename in a new buffer (and window) or

  $ gnuclient -eval '(dired "/etc")'

But one of the coolest things you can do is:

  $ gnuclient -nw

which allows gnuclient to attach itself to a running
XEmacs process in the current TTY. I have used this to
login from a remote system using telnet or ssh and
attach myself to an already running XEmacs process.
That way I can read my email or do anything I want from
the remote system, and things will be exactly as I
changed them when I get back to the original system.

-- 
Lynn David Newton
Phoenix, AZ