bash ignores what I type while “apt-get” is running

Question

I am encountering this problem:

I type sudo apt-get install <package>, and hit Enter. apt-get starts resolving dependencies and downloading/installing packages. While it is running, I want to enter another command in the same terminal, so I type it (let's say echo done).

The problem is, I type echo done and Enter, but when apt-get finishes, the echo done is not executed. The shell comes back to me with a prompt, and there is nothing in its input buffer. So, bash seems to ignore my input while apt-get is running. This "ignoring" doesn't seem to happen with any other command.

I would like to figure out why this is happening, and if I can change the behaviour somehow.

Answer 1

You might want to try to execute any command by adding in the very end of the command the &., e.g.: dolphin &. This way the process will run on the background and the terminal will be free to operate on.

Update: it seems, however, that interactive processes, like sudo apt-get install <package> that expect a user input (for example sudo's password) just wait in the background. They can be re-reached with the command fg.