Foreground processes refer to applications you are running that you are currently interacting with, and which applies equally to graphical user interfaces as it does to the command line. Background processes refer to applications that are running but not being interacted with by the user.

What is foreground vs background?

The foreground contains the applications the user is working on, and the background contains the applications that are behind the scenes, such as certain operating system functions, printing a document or accessing the network.

What is background process in Linux?

In Linux, a background process is a process that is started from a terminal session and then runs independently. When a background process is launched from a terminal session, the same terminal will be immediately available to execute other commands. … Background processes can be terminated using kill %<job#> command.