[justin_vanw]

   $ mkfifo ~/.jobqueue
   $ parallel :::: ~/.jobqueue

now, from another terminal:

   echo ls > ~/.jobqueue

Tada!

for a remote job queue, use nc instead of a fifo

for a job queue with a buffer, use a file, and run $ parallel :::: <(tail -f thefile) you can even truncate the file from time to time.

Of course, this doesn't capture the context you are in, such as your current directory or the value of shell variables.

[kovek]

Here is an alternative:

  tty1$ mkfifo /tmp/jobqueue
  tty1$ eval $(tail -n 1 /tmp/jobqueue)

And then, in another terminal:

  tty2$ echo ls > /tmp/jobqueue

[giis]

What's 'parallel'? Is it a *nix command? Looks like its not available on Fedora box

[teraflop]

Yes, it's a GNU tool. Try "yum install parallel".

http://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/