Question

I need to have a script execute (bash or perl or php, any will do) another command and then exit, while the other command still runs and exits on its own. I could schedule via at command, but was curious if there was a easier way.

Answer 1

#!/bin/sh

your_cmd &

echo "started your_cmd, now exiting!"

Similar constructs exists for perl and php, but in sh/bash its very easy to run another command in the background and proceed.

edit

A very good source for generic process manipulation are all the start scripts under /etc/init.d. They do all sorts of neat tricks such as keep track of pids, executing basic start/stop/restart commands etc.