\_ just loaded mandrake 7.2 and because i'm always chatting online with 
\_ friends i decided to load yahoo messenger when done. to open this 
\_ program i simply have to type the command from a terminal window, but 
\_ if that terminal window is closed the program also closes. anyway to 
\_ run a program like that without having to open the terminal window?

golly.  a whole week went by on this and noone said anything about
'screen'.   

oh.us is way cold.  Like order-of-magnitude colder, depending on your
scale.  :-)

David