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    @acolyte: The output from ps will include a line ending with grep [f]nord. However, that line will not make in through the grep filter, because the string [f]nord does not match the regular expression [f]nord. Commented Apr 30, 2013 at 17:58
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    @LarsH interesting, thanks! i would have suggested ps aux | grep fnord | grep -v grep ...which seems to have already been suggested by a few people...lol Commented Apr 30, 2013 at 18:16
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    @progo Yes, you do need to quote the [ even in bash. Try it with a file called fnord in the current directory. Commented May 1, 2013 at 22:18
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    Grepping the output of ps may be an old trick, but it's unreliable. Use pgrep if available. Commented May 1, 2013 at 22:19
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    @naxa Imagine you have a program call fnord and a program called safnorde. Or there's a user called bfnord, and you end up killing all his processes. Etc. Commented Nov 24, 2013 at 22:37