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The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Various
page 124 of 1403 (08%)
backgammon

See [949]bignum (sense 3), [950]moby (sense 4), and [951]pseudoprime.
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background n.,adj.,vt.

[common] To do a task `in background' is to do it whenever
[955]foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attention, and
`to background' something means to relegate it to a lower priority.
"For now, we'll just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on
the graph-printing problem in background." Note that this implies
ongoing activity but at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast
to mainstream `back burner' (which connotes benign neglect until some
future resumption of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for
processing that they have queued up for their unconscious minds (a
tack that one can often fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle
in creative work). Compare [956]amp off, [957]slopsucker.

Technically, a task running in background is detached from the
terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower priority);
oppose [958]foreground. Nowadays this term is primarily associated
with [959]Unix, but it appears to have been first used in this sense
on OS/360.
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