parent: pre-fork id 7253 child believes it is: 7254 parent: post-fork id 7253 parent: return from fork is: 7254 child: id after exec: 7254 child: sees processes... 7253 pts/3 S+ 0:00 /usr/bin/perl /home/doom/bin/testes-forkitude 7254 pts/3 R+ 0:00 perl -e print "child: id after exec: $$\n";? print " parent: still here, with id 7253 parent: sees processes... 7253 pts/3 S+ 0:00 /usr/bin/perl /home/doom/bin/testes-forkitude 7254 pts/3 Z+ 0:00 [perl]