#!/bin/bash [ $# -eq 0 ] && { # $# is number of args echo "$(basename $0): missing command" >&2 exit 1 } prog="$(which "$1")" # see below [ -z "$prog" ] && { echo "$(basename $0): unknown command: $1" >&2 exit 1 } shift # remove $1, now $prog, from args tty -s && exec /dev/null # if stdout is a terminal, redirect to null tty -s <&2 && exec 2>&1 # stderr to stdout (which might not be null) "$prog" "$@" & # $@ is all args