What is the difference between letting nohup append to 'nohup.out' and explicitly redirecting it to a file?

Consider the following scenario:

tail.sh:

#!/bin/bash
tail -f test.txt

invoke.sh:

#!/bin/bash
nohup ./tail.sh &

invoke_explicitredirect.sh:

#!/bin/bash
nohup ./tail.sh > out.log &

Running both in a terminal has the same effect:

• I regain control of the terminal after running ./tail.sh


• No output from tail appears on the terminal

However, when running it using ssh (e.g. ssh <user>@<hostname> "<script>"):

• invoke_explicitredirect.sh returns control to ssh (and terminates)


• invoke.sh hangs until I send a SIGINT

man nohup states that nohup will automatically redirect output to 'nohup.out' if possible:

If standard output is a terminal, append output to 'nohup.out' if possible, '$HOME/nohup.out' otherwise.

What is the difference between letting nohup append to nohup.out and explicitly redirecting the output?