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I recently used #Enter (# followed by pressing Enter key) to get a newline after opening okular using xdg-open gave a bunch of logs. What processes or services does # enter kill and can it possibly introduce any errors in process running (that of okular)? Thanks a lot!

EDIT

Opening Okular via xdg-open gives a new line with output-

okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig

Typing # then enter ends the above and starts a new line. Similar happens for firefox, vlc etc.

What actually is # doing in here?

phuclv
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lordparthurnaax
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2 Answers2

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Reading between the lines, I think the key reproduction steps are:

  1. Start from an interactive shell prompt
  2. Run a command that backgrounds itself (or explicitly background it with &)
  3. Output from the background process obscures the following shell prompt
  4. Run a do-nothing command to get the shell to print a fresh prompt.

If that's the case, then just pressing Enter should be enough.

This probably should be on unix.stackexchange.com

phuclv
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It's simply a comment starting symbol. That's also why it's chosen as the default symbol for the superuser shell, because someone mistakenly pasted a dangerous command intended for superusers will be safe

phuclv
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  • @Lu Opening Okular via `xdg-open` gives a new line with output: `okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: okular(8107)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig:` Typing `#` then enter ends the above and starts a new line. What is actually happening in there? – lordparthurnaax Nov 19 '17 at 14:29
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    Please don't start a comment thread just to correct the understanding of your problem. That info should be in the body of your Q, right?! :-) AND this really seems to be specific to `okular/xdg-open` (I don't know anything about them), so search for developer support forums specific to these tools. Good luck. – shellter Nov 19 '17 at 15:04
  • @shellter, I have just listed an instance of the issue. The same issue exists for firefox, VLC, gedit etc. And thanks, will update the question to make sure it conveys its true sense :) – lordparthurnaax Nov 19 '17 at 18:23