Linux Questions

**Out** · 09-10-2007, 20:19

Heyo, I'm a computer science major and I'm playing around with Linux for the first time, because it's convenient for connecting to the school's network for homework.

I'm sure I am going to have a lot of questions, so I'm guessing this isn't the first time I'll post in this thread, but...first things first...

How do I open a program from the terminal without rendering that terminal useless until I exit the program? I have seen it done but forgot what I'm supposed to precede the program name with.

**Lemur** · 09-10-2007, 20:40

Hi Out,

We have a lot of helpful geeks back here, and Xiahou, in particular, uses Linux on a daily basis, but we really shouldn't be your first stop for support. Depending on which distro you're using, there are forums devoted to nothing but providing answers to new users.

If you're using Ubuntu, for instance, there is a whole ecosystem of help and answers here.

**Blodrast** · 09-11-2007, 22:39

Originally Posted by Lemur

Hi Out,

We have a lot of helpful geeks back here, and Xiahou, in particular, uses Linux on a daily basis, but we really shouldn't be your first stop for support. Depending on which distro you're using, there are forums devoted to nothing but providing answers to new users.

If you're using Ubuntu, for instance, there is a whole ecosystem of help and answers here.

Pfft, I disagree.

We should be your first stop for support, 'cause that shows you feel comfortable enough in this community, but we should definitely not be your last stop for support.

**Lemur** · 09-11-2007, 22:43

That's a legitimate point. I retract my earlier response; Blodrast makes heaps of sense.

**Blodrast** · 09-11-2007, 23:29

Originally Posted by Lemur

That's a legitimate point. I retract my earlier response; Blodrast makes heaps of sense.

Awww, c'mon, don't get into the stiff mod persona!

I was mostly kidding around (as usual), but I guess the actual message is just like you said yourself in one of your posts above: feel free to ask us, but for real hardcore issues, you should definitely look around on dedicated forums that deal specifically with that particular issue, because that's where the best information will be available, most likely. I mean, a site that is entirely dedicated to one narrow, specific issue will most likely have the most comprehensive collection of things you should know about that topic...

Sheesh, writing serious posts is such toil - and not fun at all!

**drone** · 09-10-2007, 22:08

Originally Posted by Out

How do I open a program from the terminal without rendering that terminal useless until I exit the program? I have seen it done but forgot what I'm supposed to precede the program name with.

In Unix, you can put a task in the background with the '&' character at the end of the command. Is this what you wanted?

**Out** · 09-11-2007, 01:49

Yar, my apologies with a probably needless post. I've been looking up much lately, getting sick of it, but such is life. School is no fun :P.

Thanks for the quick response, I found what I needed. It's awesome that so much information is out there for Linux, but that's also part of the problem - sometimes it's nigh upon impossible to sift through all the higher end stuff just to find the lower end implementations that I want while I'm learning.

It's like learning a programming language before knowing how to use a compiler.

Anyways, sorry again for the unnecessary thread - if you'd like, delete it.

**Xiahou** · 09-11-2007, 02:17

As with most computer questions, but particularly with Linux, Google is your best friend. I'll also try to answer any questions I can, but I'm far from a Guru. I mainly use Mandriva, but have looked at a few other distros, however briefly.

To add to what Drone said, you can also move processes to the background/foreground with 'bg' and 'fg' commands, respectively.