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The page is about basic command-line operation of a GNU/Linux system.
A command-line Shell accepts various kinds of commands:
executable programs installed from Debian packages
- manually installed/compiled/written programs or scripts
internal commands provided by the Shell (built-ins, aliases)
- ...
Contents
Command-line applications
Debian provides many command line programs through its package management system.
See Software for a list of software categories, which usually provide graphical and text interfaces. For example: File managers, Text editors, Shells, Office applications, Web browsers, Email clients, Download utilities, IRC Client, UseNet clients, Audio/video applications, SSH, SystemMonitoring, Compression, computer graphics...
Commonly used command-line programs
coreutils
The GNU Core Utilities (coreutils) are the basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities of the GNU operating system. These are the core utilities which are expected to exist on every UNIX-like operating system.
You should get a basic knowledge of how to list, display, edit and manipulate files before moving to more specific tasks, and/or writing shell scripts.
Other programs
To get detailed information on how to use a program, read its ManPage.
awk - pattern-directed scanning and processing language
clear - clear the terminal screen
cmp - Compare two files
comm - Compare two sorted files line by line
crontab - Schedule a command to run at a later time
date - Display or change the date & time
dc - Desk Calculator
dd - Data Dump - Convert and copy a file
df - Display free disk space
diff - Display the differences between two files
dir - Briefly list directory contents
dircolors - Colour setup for ls
dirname - Convert a full pathname to just a path
du - Estimate file space usage
eject - Eject CD-ROM
env - Display, set, or remove environment variables
exit - Exit the shell (or press Ctrl-D)
export - Set an environment variable
fdisk - Partition table manipulator for Linux
file - Tells what kind of files are those listed on command line
find - Search for files that meet a desired criteria
for - Expand words, and execute commands
format - Format disks or tapes
free - Display memory usage
fsck - Filesystem consistency check and repair.
ftp - Transfer/receive files from/to a remote host
grep, egrep, fgrep, rgrep - print lines that match patterns
groups - Print group names a user is in
gzip/gunzip - Compress or decompress named file(s)
head - Output the first part of file(s)
history - Command History
hostname - Print or set system name
id - Print user and group id's
info - Help info
join - Joins lines on a common field
kill - Stops a process from running
killall - Stops matching process from running
less - Display output one screen at a time
ln - Make links between files
locate - Find files using an indexed list.
logname - Print current login name
logout - Exit a login shell
lpc - Line printer control program
lpr - Off line print
lprint - Print a file
lprintq - List the print queue
ls - List information about file(s)
man - Help manual
mkdir - Create new folder(s)
more - Display output one screen at a time
mount - Mount a file system
mv - Move or rename files or directories
nice - Set the priority of a command or job
passwd - Modify a user password
printf - Format and print data
ps - Process Status. Lists running process
pwd - Print Working Directory
rgrep - Recursive grep
rm - Remove file(s)
rmdir - Remove folder(s)
rsync - Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees) using its own protocol. It may be used over an ssh or rsh connection.
scp - Copy files between two machines over an ssh connection
script - make typescript of terminal session
sdiff - Merge two files interactively
sed - Stream Editor
select - Accept keyboard input
sftp - Secure file transfer (FTP over SSH)
shutdown - Shutdown or restart Linux
sleep - Delay for a specified time
sort - Sort text files
ssh - Secure Shell
su - Substitute user identity
sync - Synchronize data on disk with memory
tail - Output the last part of files
tar - Tape Archiver
time - Measure Program Resource Use
top - List processes running on the system
touch - Change file timestamps or create an empty file
tr - Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
traceroute - Trace Route to Host
true - Do nothing, successfully
umask - Users file creation mask
umount - Unmount a device
uname - Print system information
uniq - Uniquify files
until - Execute commands (until error)
useradd - Create new user account
usermod - Modify user account
users - List users currently logged in
vdir - Verbosely list directory contents (ls -l -b)
watch - Execute/display a program periodically
wc - Print byte, word and line counts
which - Locate a program file in the user's path.
who - Print all usernames currently logged in
whoami - Print the current user id and name (`id -un')
xargs - build and execute command lines from standard input
Fun
External links
https://www.bestsevenreviews.com/all-about-linux/ - An Overview of the Linux OS for Newbies
http://linuxcommand.org/ - learn the command line
TODO link to unix books
TODO CategoryRedundant: merge other pages ShellToolTricks, PrincipalCommands coreutils, Shell, ?dash, Sh
TODO remove coreutils commands from list, integrate coreutils as section (or page include)?