Service

Systems · Beginner

A program that starts with the computer or on demand and waits in the background to handle requests, often without a person logged in.

Web servers, schedulers, and remote-login listeners are typical examples. They keep running after the person who installed them logs off.

Example: A secure-shell listener starts at boot and waits for administrators, even when nobody is sitting at the console.

Common misconception

A background listener is still a running program. It is not a setting by itself.