Marcanon

Is there anyway to switch tasks in the linux console? I always read how it is "multitasking" but I can't find any documentation on how to do this without being in some sort of X window environment.

Thanks in advance.

qmanchu

It's been a long while since I've used Linux but if I recall, you can send the current process to the background by pressing [CTRL]-Z. Then you can use the "ps" command to list the processes that are currently running. Now here's where it really gets fuzzy for me. Either you can pass a parameter to "ps" to switch back to a particular process or you use the "%" or "&" key followed by the process ID. Sorry for being so vague.

Hopefully, this information can point you in the right direction. Let us know if you succeed.

aglio412

if you're on the machine, you can use alt-[insert Function key here] to switch between consoles. or just open another telnet window...you can log into the same machine multiple times with the same username.

also, you can run apps in the background by using the & operator

and finally...i don't think linux promotes itself as a multitasking environment in the same sense that you can hit alt-tab in windows...it's more of a TRUE multi-user (not one at a time like NT) and multi-threaded OS.

Marcanon

Awesome, the ctrl z -> % [id] method worked. It stops the job to be resumed again, which is pretty much what I wanted. However, I suppose no seti crunching in the background while I'm working, though, hehe.

Thanks guys.