child process
A {process} created by another process (the
{parent process}). Each process may create many child
processes but will have only one parent process, except for
the very first process which has no parent. The first
process, called {init} in {Unix}, is started by the {kernel}
at {boot time} and never terminates. A child process inherits
most of its attributes, such as open files, from its parent.
In fact in Unix, a child process is created (using {fork}) as
a copy of the parent. The chid process can then overlay
itself with a different program (using {exec}) as required.
(1997-11-22)