From http://www.watchingthenet.com/ubuntu-tip-how-to-launch-programs-in-the-background-from-a-terminal-window.html

Short version: put & at the end of the line to start it

  • run jobs to see a list of background programs
  • run fg %n to bring a job to the foreground (where n is the number in square brackets on the job list, e.g. fg %1)
  • press Ctrl-Z to suspend the current process
  • run bg %n to resume a job in the background

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Update:
I just learned a way to do this so that the program will keep running even if you close your terminal:
nohup &</code></p>