Background process
A process running without being the active foreground job of a terminal, often with different I/O and signal behavior.
Definition
A background process is a process that is not the active foreground job in a terminal session.
This can mean:
- it was started with
&or moved to the background via job control - it has no controlling terminal because it is running under a supervisor
Why it behaves differently
Background processes often have different behavior around:
- input and output (stdin may be closed or not connected to a terminal)
- signals from the terminal (job control signals)
- lifetime (it might die when the terminal session ends unless supervised)