Many Linux commands typed at a shell prompt are similar to the commands
you would type in MS-DOS. In
fact, some commands are identical.
This appendix provides common commands used at the MS-DOS prompt in
Windows 9x and their counterparts in Linux.
Basic examples of how the command are used at the Linux shell prompt are
also provided. 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 B-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 diskette | format
a: (if diskette is 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 |
| View a file | more | less[d] | less
thisfile.txt |
| Renames a file | ren | mv | mv
thisfile.txt
thatfile.txt[e] |
| 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 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. You can also use
info for some
commands.
d. The
more pager can also be used to
page through a file a screen at a
time.
e. The
mv command 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.
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