Solution

The ampersand (&) is used to send a process to the background in Unix/Linux systems, allowing the terminal to remain available for other commands while the process continues running in the background. When a command is followed by &, the shell executes the command as a background process, freeing the terminal for additional input. This is particularly useful when running long-running processes or tasks that do not require constant interaction with the terminal. Why Other Options are Incorrect: A) fg: fg brings a background process to the foreground, the opposite of what is required in this scenario. B) kill: kill terminates a process rather than sending it to the background. C) bg: bg resumes a suspended job in the background but does not initiate a background process. D) nohup: nohup allows a command to continue running after the user has logged out, but it does not send a process to the background directly like & does.Bottom of Form