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3.0 KiB
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19 lines
3.0 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>background</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../B.html" title="B"/><link rel="previous" href="backgammon.html" title="backgammon"/><link rel="next" href="backreference.html" title="backreference"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">background</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="backgammon.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><th width="60%" align="center">B</th><td width="20%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="backreference.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="background"/><dt xmlns="" id="background"><b>background</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.,adj.,vt.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [common] To do a task <span class="firstterm">in
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background</span> is to do it whenever
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<a href="../F/foreground.html"><i class="glossterm">foreground</i></a> matters are not claiming your undivided
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attention, and <span class="firstterm">to background</span>
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something means to relegate it to a lower priority. “<span class="quote">For now, we'll
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just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on the graph-printing
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problem in background.</span>” Note that this implies ongoing activity but
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at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast to mainstream ‘back
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burner’ (which connotes benign neglect until some future resumption
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of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for processing that they
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have queued up for their unconscious minds (a tack that one can often
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fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work). Compare
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<a href="../A/amp-off.html"><i class="glossterm">amp off</i></a>, <a href="../S/slopsucker.html"><i class="glossterm">slopsucker</i></a>.</p><p>Technically, a task running in background is detached from the
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terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower priority);
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oppose <a href="../F/foreground.html"><i class="glossterm">foreground</i></a>. Nowadays this term is primarily
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associated with <a href="../U/Unix.html"><i class="glossterm">Unix</i></a>, but it appears to have been
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first used in this sense on OS/360.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="backgammon.html">Prev</a><EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../B.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><EFBFBD><a accesskey="n" href="backreference.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">backgammon<EFBFBD></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"><EFBFBD>backreference</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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