Many Linux commands you type at a shell prompt are not that different from the commands you would type either in MS-DOS or in Windows (from the MS-DOS prompt). In fact, some commands are identical.
What follows are some common commands used at the MS-DOS prompt in Windows 9x, and in Linux, as well as a basic example of how the command is used at the Linux shell prompt. Note that these commands usually have a number of options. To learn more about each command, read its associated man page (for example, type man ls at the shell prompt to read about the ls command).
Table C-1. Similar Commands
| Command's Purpose | MS-DOS | Linux | Basic Linux Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copies files | copy | cp | cp thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory |
| Moves files | move | mv | mv thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory |
| Lists files | dir | ls | ls |
| Clears screen | cls | clear | clear |
| Closes prompt window | exit | exit | exit |
| Displays or sets date | date | date | date |
| Deletes files | del | rm | rm thisfile.txt |
| "Echoes" output on the screen | echo | echo | echo this message |
| Edits files with simple text editor | edit | pico[a] | pico thisfile.txt |
| Compares the contents of files | fc | diff | diff file1 file2 |
| Finds a string of text in a file | find | grep | grep this word or phrase thisfile.txt |
| Formats a floppy | format a: (if floppy's in A:) | mke2fs (or mformat[b]) | /sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0 (/dev/fd0 is the Linux equivalent of A:) |
| Displays command help | command /? | man[c] | man command |
| Creates a directory | mkdir | mkdir | mkdir directory |
| Screens through a file | more | less[d] | less thisfile.txt |
| Renames a file | ren | mv | mv thisfile.txt thatfile.txt[e] |
| Shows your location in the file system | chdir | pwd | pwd |
| Changes directories with a specified path (absolute path) | cd pathname | cd pathname | cd /directory/directory |
| Changes directories with a relative path | cd .. | cd .. | cd .. |
| Displays the time | time | date | date |
| Shows amount of RAM and use | mem | free | free |
| Notes: a. Pico is a simple text editor; other editors you can use in place of pico include emacs and vi. b. This formats a disk for the DOS filesystem. c. Or you can use info for some commands. d. You can also another pager, called more, to scroll through a file a screen at at time. e. The mv command serves double-duty, because it can both move a file and, if you want to rename a file in the same directory, you "move" that file to the same directory with a new name, as in this example. | |||