Ubuntu – How to open an application using the command line and then close the terminal without closing the opened application

Here's my best solution: Create an Applescript with:

do shell script "/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -P default -no-remote & killall Firefox.app"

And save it as an application.

You can put whatever application with whatever args in the first part. The part after the & needs to kill whatever you have named your script + .app. You'll see the script app flash up in the dock, but it will then disappear.

Note: The script will not work properly when run from Script Editor, only when run from the script application you have created.

Gnome-terminal can either execute a command or open a shell, but not both.

There is a workaround to do both by encapsulating the command and subsequent invocation of the shell into one command.

$ gnome-terminal -e "bash -c \"echo foo; echo bar; exec bash\""

For more alternatives read my answer to a similar question on stack overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3512055/avoid-gnome-terminal-close-after-script-execution/3531426#3531426