A process that has terminated but still appears in the process table with a status code 'Z' can be interacted with using the kill command to release its consumed resources.
A process with a 'Z' status code is known as a zombie process. Zombie processes cannot be interacted with or killed using the kill command because they are already terminated and are only awaiting the parent process to read their exit status. The resources are held by the OS to allow the parent process to check the child's exit status. Only the parent process finishing or reading the exit status can remove the zombie from the process table.
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What is a zombie process?
How can a parent process remove a zombie process?
Why can't the kill command remove zombie processes?