Timeout

timeout sets a time limit for its subordinate command.

Provided by
Not all distributions have this command -- for instance, it's missing in Ubuntu 10.4 by default, but is present in Gentoo as of this writing. --04:33, April 19, 2011 (UTC)

Most (all?) Linux distributions that have this at all incorporate it from the GNU Coreutils: and use its man page

Related Commands
These all relate to running commands in an altered context.
 * chroot - Confine the program to "jail".
 * env - Change variables.
 * nice - Change priority.
 * nohup - Protect from hangups (modem) or network outages.
 * stdbuf - Change buffering of standard I/O filestreams.
 * su - Change user
 * gdb - Run under control of a debugger
 * script - Capture all program output
 * valgrind</tt> - Validate program behavior
 * strace</tt> - Create a log of system calls.