[ILUG] [OT] defunct process ?

[Declan Grady]

{A bit OT as it's on a unix box, not linux.}

What in under god is a 'defunct' process ?

On my sco5 box, if i do a 'ps -deaf' i get a number of processes listed as
'defunct'
All have the same parent id, and same owner (root), but no tty and no time
i.e.

root at nuvotem# ps -deaf
     UID   PID  PPID  C    STIME     TTY        TIME CMD
   root 19616   341  0        -       -    00:00:00 <defunct>

I did try  a 'kill -9 19616' as root, but doesnt seem to want to die !

Any suggestions most welcome

Declan
[NODIS]