Perhaps you would enlighten us by posting a forking solution to the OPs problem that's simpler than this?

And for bonus points, you could try making it also be scalable, portable and efficient?

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."

In reply to Re^2: Converting a parallel-serial shell script by BrowserUk
in thread Converting a parallel-serial shell script by Corion

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