how do I launch a url in firefox in the background from Ubuntu command line?

Question

I use this command from the Terminal to launch a url in Firefox:

firefox reader.google.com &

I put the ampersand at the end so that it won't put my Terminal window in the background, but Gnome just ignores this and opens a new Firefox browser window on top of the Terminal. Is there a way to launch Firefox behind the Terminal? What I want to do is continue working on the command line while the page loads, which sometimes can take a few seconds.

Answer 1

firefox "http://www.google.com/" &

This works for me just fine. Try using quotes and a full URL.

Answer 2

In firefox's about:config page set preference:

'browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground' to 'true'.