NAME

nice − run a command at low priority

SYNOPSIS

nice [ −number ] command [ arguments ]

DESCRIPTION

There are two distinct versions of nice: it is built in to the C-Shell, and is an executable program available in /bin/nice for use with the Bourne shell. 

nice executes command with a higher "nice" value.  The higher the value, the lower the command’s scheduling priority.  If the number argument is present, the nice value is incremented by that amount, up to a limit of 20.  The default number is 10. 

The super-user may run commands with priority higher than normal by using a negative nice value, such as ‘−10’. 

SEE ALSO

csh(1), nice(3C), renice(8)

DIAGNOSTICS

nice returns the exit status of the subject command. 

BUGS

The nice C-Shell built-in has a slightly different syntax than the nice command described here.  When using the built-in, the additional + option, as in:

nice +n

sets the nice value to n rather than incrementing by n. 

Although you can increase the nice value  for any process you own, only the super-user can decrement that value. 

Sun Release 3.2  —  Last change: 17 July 1986