Question: When you are performing time consuming operations in bash like installing new software, is it possible to write text that will appear at the prompt when the operation has finished.

E.g 

Imagine running:

```
apt-get install eclipse-platform

```

Then it will use quite a while to finish while you see the installation log, meanwhile I want to create new folders (workspaces) which Eclipse later will use.

Is this possible without opening a new terminal (or tab)?

Answer: 
You can run the installation in the background. This leaves the foreground free for you to type further commands. You will be notified when the background job has finished.

Check the man page for apt-get and look for options that make it work quietly without writing lots of output. Check for options that make it work without requiring user input (e.g. confirmations)

Use redirection to have apt-get write messages and errors to files, use the ampersand suffix to run the command in background

```
nohup apt-get --be-quiet --dont-ask \
    install eclipse-platform > agiep.out 2>agiep.err &

```

You probably dont need `nohup` (see man page). I invented `--be-quiet` and `-dont-ask` so check `man apt-get` for real equivalents (if any). 

See also `fg` in your shell's man-page. 

Note: many of the above features are shell-dependent. Should be OK in bash, ksh and their ilk.
There are many ways to accomplish this.

You can pause a task at anytime by pressing **ctrl + z**. Then, to resume the task in background, use the command **bg**. You can bring a task back to foreground with **fg**

Therefore, if apt-get is running, do **ctrl+z** , then run **bg**. this will make it run in background.

You could also read on screen or byobu.