Being a Windows-only man (shame on me), I don't understand what "./lazarus &" does. Could you explain?
"./" is just the path definition for the current directory.
Unix systems typically don't include current directory in their PATH, so it must be given explicitly.
It is a security issue, you can search the web for details.
"&" detaches the process from the console, so I can use it for other commands while Lazarus is running.
Otherwise I would need to open another console for other commands.
Standard output from Lazarus still goes to the console which is handy during development.
Maybe you should try a modern Linux distro in a virtual machine for example.
I personally use Mint + KDE.