Shell Script : Kill a running process when another process starts

ashmew2 · 08-18-2008, 05:49 AM

Hi , I was wondering if i could kill an already running process when i start another one.

For example ,
If i run firefox , i want that totem be killed before firefox starts( Because if totem is running , firefox doesnt play any sound ).
How can this be achieved ?

I hope Im clear with my query.
Thanks.

gilead · 08-18-2008, 11:01 PM

As a quick fix, you could change however you start firefox to something like this:

Code:

pkill totem && firefox

ashmew2 · 08-20-2008, 02:26 AM

Thanks for the info , but i cant figure out how to add this to firefox startup , Im using Ubuntu Hardy and running Firefox from
Applications > Internet > Firefox . Any ideas ?

bitpicker · 08-20-2008, 03:47 AM

The Firefox icon you are using has a setting entry in its right-click menu. There, you can replace the current command with what gilead said.

However, 'pkill totem' will return a failed exit code if totem isn't running. The && operator will then fail to start Firefox because it will only execute the command if the previous command returned no error. Replace the && with a ; instead. This way the two commands will simply be executed in sequence, regardless of whether pkill finds a totem to kill or not.

Robin