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Easily run a program in the background without losing output

Terminal - Easily run a program in the background without losing output
function fork () { tf=$(tempfile -d /tmp -p $1.);echo -n "$tf "; $@ &>$tf& }
2009-03-25 23:33:54
User: clockworkavian
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Easily run a program in the background without losing output

This function runs a program in the background, and logs all output to an automatically created logfile. That way, you can still get at the output without it clogging up your terminal.

Tip:

Throw fork() and this:

for prog in firefox kate konqueror ;do alias $prog="fork $prog";done

into your bashrc, so that they'll automatically run out of the way.

Show sample output | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There is 1 alternative - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives

Know a better way?

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What others think

That one is the heart of the trick and is more readable :

find &> /tmp/test &
Comment by sputnick 205 weeks and 5 days ago

But there's shorter :

command > file &

no need to put STDERR in the file, like that you'll see errors when running the command. ( "&> file" is a shortcut for "> file 2>&1" )

Comment by sputnick 205 weeks and 5 days ago

Your point of view

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