What I don't understand is why it bloats the shell instead of just using the OS' tools. # kill -STOP $pid # kill -CONT $pid in Plan9 we do: echo stop

What I don't understand is why it bloats the shell instead of just using the OS' tools. # kill -STOP $pid # kill -CONT $pid in Plan9 we do: echo stop > /proc/$pid/note When they copied the /proc file system into Linux they did a cack handed version (as expected) - "by amateurs, for amateurs" as Dave Presotto put it. http://plan9.bell-labs.com/magic/man2html/3/proc http://plan9.bell-labs.com/magic/man2html/3/proc