>> I am using cat to capture video from VHS tapes, saving the files as mpegs >> and don't want to baby sit things. How can I launch cat with a >> predetermined ending time without having to use cron? > > cat & > catpid=$! > sleep 3600 > kill $catpid process ids do get recycled, so that could bite eventually, safer to key on the job#, not sure how to fetch the job# of a job you just launched, unless it's a fresh (sub)shell and therefore %1: (cat & sleep 3600 kill %1)