generalized suspend wanted

[dan%sri-tsc at sri-unix.UUCP]

From:  Dan Chernikoff <dan at sri-tsc>

It's a little more complicated than that.  What you want is a "detached job"
capability like tops-20.  The complexity comes in because many programs "know"
what tty you are on, and what the current modes associated with that tty are.
Probably the simplest way to get around this would be to use pty's (pseudo
tty's) on every login, in such a way that when a pty get's detached, you can
not assign it to anyone else until the rightful owner logs on again and does
an "attach" to it.  With this scheme, all you have to do is suspend all the
processes associated with that pty (assuming you have the Berkeley job control
code -- if not you are in big trouble), and leave all those processes hanging
around out there until the user reattaches the pty.  The problem with this,
obviously, is that it will eat up slots in your process table very fast, sigh.

It's a great idea, but might be beyond the scope of the UNIX environment, 
alas.

Good luck!

	-Dan Chernikoff