If you're just beginning to work on a Linux system, the abundance of commands might prove daunting. To help orient you, the following lists present a sampling of commands on various topics.
ftp | File Transfer Protocol. |
login | Sign on. |
rlogin | Sign on to remote system. |
rsh | Run shell or single command on remote system. |
talk | Exchange messages interactively with other terminals. |
telnet | Connect to another system. |
tftp | Trivial file transfer protocol. |
uudecode | Decode file prepared for mailing by uuencode. |
uuencode | Encode file containing binary characters for mailing. |
vacation | Respond to mail automatically. |
cmp | Compare two files, byte by byte. |
comm | Compare items in two sorted files. |
diff | Compare two files, line by line. |
diff3 | Compare three files. |
cat | Concatenate files or display them. |
chfn | Change user information for finger, email, etc. |
cksum | Compute checksum. |
chmod | Change access modes on files. |
chsh | Change login shell. |
cp | Copy files. |
csplit | Break files at specific locations. |
dd | Copy files in raw disk form. |
file | Determine a file's type. |
head | Show the first few lines of a file. |
less | Display files by screenful. |
ln | Create filename aliases. |
ls | List files or directories. |
merge | Merge changes from different files. |
mkdir | Create a directory. |
more | Display files by screenful. |
mv | Move or rename files or directories. |
newgrp | Change current group. |
pwd | Print working directory. |
rcp | Copy files to remote system. |
rm | Remove files. |
rmdir | Remove directories. |
split | Split files evenly. |
tail | Show the last few lines of a file. |
wc | Count lines, words, and characters. |
lpq | Show status of print jobs. |
lpr | Send to the printer. |
lprm | Remove print job. |
lpstat | Get printer status. |
pr | Format and paginate for printing. |
ar | Create and update library files. |
as | Generate object file. |
bison | Generate parsing tables. |
cpp | Preprocess C code. |
flex | Lexical analyzer. |
g++ | GNU C++ compiler. |
gcc | GNU C compiler. |
ld | Link editor. |
m4 | Macro processor. |
make | Create programs. |
ranlib | Regenerate archive symbol table. |
rpcgen | Translate RPC to C code. |
yacc | Generate parsing tables. |
cvs | Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. |
etags | Generate symbol list for use with the Emacs editor. |
gctags | Generate symbol list for use with the vi editor. |
gdb | GNU debugger. |
gprof | Display object file's profile data. |
imake | Generate makefiles for use with make. |
make | Maintain, update, and regenerate related programs and files. |
nm | Display object file's symbol table. |
patch | Apply patches to source code. |
rcs | Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. |
size | Print the size of an object file in bytes. |
strace | Trace system calls and signals. |
strip | Strip symbols from an object file. |
apropos | Search manpages for topic. |
egrep | Extended version of grep. |
fgrep | Search files for literal words. |
find | Search the system for filenames. |
grep | Search files for text patterns. |
strings | Search binary files for text patterns. |
whereis | Find command. |
echo | Repeat command-line arguments on the output. |
expr | Perform arithmetic and comparisons. |
printf | Format and print command-line arguments. |
sleep | Pause during processing. |
test | Test a condition. |
bzip2 | Compress files to free up space. |
cpio | Create and unpack file archives. |
gunzip | Expand compressed (.gz and .Z) files (preferred). |
gzip | Compress files to free up space. |
shar | Create shell archive. |
tar | Copy files to or restore files from an archive medium. |
zcat | Display contents of compressed files. |
at | Execute commands later. |
atq | Show jobs queued by at. |
atrm | Remove job queued by at. |
chgrp | Change file group. |
chown | Change file owner. |
crontab | Automate commands. |
date | Display or set date. |
df | Show free disk space. |
du | Show disk usage. |
env | Show environment variables. |
finger | Display information about users. |
kill | Terminate a running command. |
printenv | Show environment variables. |
ps | Show processes. |
stty | Set or display terminal settings. |
who | Show who is logged on. |
col | Process control characters. |
cut | Select columns for display. |
ex | Line editor underlying vi. |
expand | Convert tabs to spaces. |
fmt | Produce roughly uniform line lengths. |
fold | Break lines. |
gawk | Process lines or records one by one. |
ghostscript | Display PostScript or PDF file. |
groff | Format troff input. |
ispell | Interactively check spelling. |
join | Merge different columns into a database. |
paste | Merge columns or switch order. |
rev | Print lines in reverse. |
sed | Noninteractive text editor. |
sort | Sort or merge files. |
tac | Print lines in reverse. |
tr | Translate (redefine) characters. |
uniq | Find repeated or unique lines in a file. |
vi | Visual text editor. |
xargs | Process many arguments in manageable portions. |
banner | Make posters from words. |
bc | Arbitrary precision calculator. |
cal | Display calendar. |
clear | Clear the screen. |
man | Get information on a command. |
nice | Reduce a job's priority. |
nohup | Preserve a running job after logging out. |
passwd | Set your login password. |
script | Produce a transcript of your login session. |
su | Become a superuser. |
tee | Simultaneously store output in file and send to screen. |
which | Print pathname of a command. |
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