From ThorstensHome

Run as daemon starts a program and hands back control to the shell. You can continue to start programs while your first program is still running. So, it corresponds to a call with an & at the end in the bash. Example usage:

• You want to test a program p on its reactions to keyboard events. Write a batch-program that starts p with run_as_daemon and then simulates keyboard events.
• Proprietary remote function call

I start an x-Server on a windows-desktop and then invoke Internet Explorer with an URL pointing to a php-script that will send a Unix-Program to the X-Server running on the Windows-Desktop. To be able to start the Internet Explorer before the X-Server quits, I have to start the X-Server as daemon. run_as_daemon is only a frontend for the c-function win_exec, as you can see in the Sourcecode. It is freeware.

ToDo

Find out if this is equivalent to Windows' function start.

DownLoad

→Download run_as_daemon here
→Download run_as_daemon's SourceCode here