Ok, this might sound a bit funny for a seasoned programmer, but for me is a unclear thing: what's a cron job and what it does? I have heard about it before, but never had the opportunity ( or the need ) to use it. Any explanation is appreciated .
Cron is the name of program that enables unix users to execute commands or scripts (groups of commands) automatically at a specified time/date. It is normally used for sys admin commands, like makewhatis, which builds a search database for the man -k command, or for running a backup script, but can be used for anything. A common use for it today is connecting to the internet and downloading your email. http://www.unixgeeks.org/security/newbie/unix/cron-1.html
Thanks for the explanation, dgarlock. Now everything starts to become a lot more clear for me, after reading your post .