NICE(1)                    OpenBSD Reference Manual                    NICE(1)

NAME
     nice - execute a utility with an altered scheduling priority

SYNOPSIS
     nice [-n increment] utility [argument ...]

DESCRIPTION
     nice runs utility at an altered scheduling priority.  If an increment is
     given, it is used; otherwise an increment of 10 is assumed.  The superus-
     er can run utilities with priorities higher than normal by using a nega-
     tive increment. The priority can be adjusted over a range of -20 (the
     highest) to 20 (the lowest).

     The options are as follows:

     -n increment
             A positive or negative decimal integer used to modify the system
             scheduling priority of utility.

     The nice utility shall exit with one of the following values:

           1-125   An error occurred.
           126     The utility was found but could not be invoked.
           127     The utility could not be found.

     Otherwise, the exit status of nice shall be that of utility.

SEE ALSO
     csh(1), getpriority(2), setpriority(2), renice(8)

COMPATIBILITY
     The historic -increment option has been deprecated but is still supported
     in this implementation.

STANDARDS
     The nice utility conforms to IEEE Std1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'').

HISTORY
     A nice utility appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

BUGS
     nice is built into csh(1) with a slightly different syntax than described
     here.  The form `nice +10' nices to positive nice, and `nice -10' can be
     used by the superuser to give a process more of the processor.

OpenBSD 3.0                      June 6, 1993                                1
