| 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 shell prompt |
exit |
exit |
exit |
| Displays or sets date |
date |
date |
date |
| Deletes files |
del |
rm |
rm thisfile.txt |
| "Echoes" output to the screen |
echo |
echo |
echo this message |
| Edits text files |
edit |
gedit ([a]) |
gedit thisfile.txt |
| Compares the contents of files |
fc |
diff |
diff file1 file2 |
| Finds a string of text in a file |
find |
grep |
grep "word or phrase" thisfile.txt |
| Formats a diskette |
format a: (if diskette is in A:) |
mke2fs |
/sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0 (/dev/fd0 is the Linux equivalent of A:) |
| Displays command help |
command /? |
man or info |
man command |
| Creates a directory |
mkdir |
mkdir |
mkdir directory |
| Views contents of a file |
more |
less ([b]) |
less thisfile.txt |
| Renames a file |
ren |
mv ([c]) |
mv thisfile.txt thatfile.txt |
| Displays 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 in use |
mem |
free |
free |
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Notes:
- Gedit is a graphical text editor; other editors you can use in place of Gedit include nano and vi.
- The more pager can also be used to page through a file one screen at a time.
- The
mv command can both move a file and, if you want to rename a file in
the same directory, "move" that file to the same directory with a new
name.
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