bash$ netscape &
When you are in graphics mode this will open netscape in a new window and also give you control of your shell. If you just type netscape your shell will be locked up and it is not always easy to get it back. In some programs you can press Ctrl-Z to get the program to stop and regain control of the shell. Once you have the shell you can type bg to get the program to continue running in the background. That is basically equivalent to starting the program in the background to start with.