lockdown program
 

I have to have a few programs running on diffrent shells that i cant log out of, so im wondering if theres somthing I can run that will lock up the system, but still let all the background programs run... just so no one will be able to muck around with my system while im gone.

Thanks,
Daven

What, like unplugging the keyboard and taking it with you?

XScreenSaver can do that.

Problem with Xscreensaver is that you can ctrl-alt-backspace and then startx. You lose the running programs, but I doubt that matters to somebody who wants to twiddle with your machine.

Now you can get around this by ctrl-alt-F1 (or whichever virtual terminal you're running the startx from), then ctrl-z to stop startx, and then "bg" to put it in the background. At that point you can log out of that terminal, alt-F7 and you're set.

Out of curiosity, just what types of programs are you wanting to leave running?

well i go to school at mit, studying math, and i have a few programs for a number theory i made that i dont want any of the people in my dorm to see. bastards try to steal my work =p

The renowned MIT spirit of community is clearly alive and well...

Anyway yeah, I would suggest backgrounding your xserver, logging out, and then running xscreensaver.

nohup program name & and then logout

Yes true. Well that seems to work perfectly, thanks for the help!

you can disable that by adding

Option "DontZap" "yes"

to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, in the ServerFlags section.

http://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.0/doc/xorg.conf.5.html

My suggestion would be to background the running process (in a TTY) by pressing ^Z, and then using "vlock" to lock the TTY.