>>> How would I get it to keep running (like my regular /bin/sh shell
>>> scripts) after I log out?
>>
>> nohup ./processFiles.rb &
>
> or:
>
> disown $(jobs -p) && logout
>
> or:
>
> disown %1 && logout

or, using zsh:

./processFiles.rb &!

everybody else was doing it, I felt left out :)

- Mark