How can I launch ProtonVPN, Discord, and Steam in sequence from a shell script?

Use `&` to start a command as a background job. For example, once the VPN has been started, you can launch the other applications without blocking the script:

```bash
#!/bin/bash
/path/to/discord &
/path/to/steam &
```

You can also put the VPN command in the background, but you should verify that the connection is actually established before starting Discord and Steam.

Instead of relying on a fixed delay, check whether the VPN tunnel exists. First find the interface name with `ip address`—it might be `proton0` on your system. Then you can test it with something like:

```bash
if ip address show proton0 | grep -q 'proton0:'; then
discord &
steam &
else
echo "Please connect to the VPN first"
fi
```

The `-q` option keeps `grep` from printing the matching line, and its exit status can be used directly by the `if` statement. Replace `proton0` with the actual tunnel interface name if necessary.

A simple approach is to start the VPN, wait briefly for it to connect, and then launch the applications:

```bash
#!/bin/bash
start-protonvpn &
sleep 20
discord &
steam &
```

However, a fixed `sleep` duration is only a rough solution because connection times vary. A loop that checks for the VPN interface—or a ProtonVPN command that reports connection status—is more reliable. Plain `wait` is generally not appropriate if the VPN process is intended to keep running, because the script would wait for that long-running process to exit.