I'm running Kubuntu 14.10. I want to open several programs (firefox, kmail, konsole) in different desktops, and I understand that kstart is the tool to use. But when I specify a file with three kstart commands as the startup file (from System Settings), my system simply hangs.

To understand what's going on, I've been trying something simpler: issuing the single command kstart --desktop 1 firefox from a konsole window. It works, but it does not terminate -- which means that following commands aren't executed. I think that's what accounts for the hangup.

So I'm asking a simpler question: is there a way to issue a kstart command from konsole that will give me a new command prompt without any further action? Most ordinary commands like ls behave just that way, of course.

The "&" at the end makes it run in parallel and the calling shell returns.

The trouble with using just kstart firefox & is that it doesn't specify the desktop, and if I open several programs that way they all land on the same desktop. I want to open firefox, kmail, and konsole on three different desktops.

That was just an example. The point is: "&" executes the command and makes the calling shell return, ready for new input or to execute the next commands. So you do: