[Linux] Comparison of common DOS and Linux commands

Many of the Linux commands you type at the shell prompt are similar to the commands you type under DOS. In fact, some commands are exactly the same.

This appendix provides common commands for Windows with DOS prompts and commands that are equivalent to them in Linux. The appendix also provides a simple example of how to use these commands at the Linux shell prompt. Note that these commands often have many options, and to learn more about each command, read the relevant manual (man) page (for example, type man ls at the shell prompt to read information about the ls command).

purpose of the order	MS-DOS	Linux	A simple example of Linux
Copying files	Copy	Cp	CP thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory
Transferring files	Move	Mv	MV thisfile.txt /home/thisdirectory
Enumerating files	Dir	Ls	Ls
Clear Screen	Cls	Clear	Clear
Turn off shell hints	Exit	Exit	Exit
Show or set date	Date	Date	Date
deleting files	Del	Rm	RM Thisfile.txt
"echo" the output to the screen.	Echo	Echo	echo this message
To edit a file with a simple text editor	Edit	gedit ([a])	Gedit thisfile.txt
Compare file Contents	Fc	Diff	Diff File1 file2
Find a string in a file	Find	Grep	grep Word or phrase Thisfile.txt
Format floppy disk	format A:(if the floppy disk is in a: )	mke2fs or mformat([b])	/sbin/mke2fs/dev/fd0(/dev/fd0 is Linux with a: equivalent drive)
Show Command Help	command /?	Man ([C])	Man Command
Create a Directory	Mkdir	Mkdir	mkdir Directory
View Files	More	Less ([d])	Less thisfile.txt
Renaming files	ren	MV([E])	MV thisfile.txt thatfile.txt
Show your location in the file system	ChDir	Pwd	Pwd
Use the specified path ( absolute path, absolutepath) to change the directory	CD path name	CD path name	CD /directory/directory
Use a relative path (relative path) to change the directory	Cd..	Cd..	Cd..
Show time	Time	Date	Date
Shows the amount of memory that has been used	Mem	Free	Free
Note: A. Gedit is a graphical text editor, and you can use other text editors instead of Gedit, including Emacs and VI. B. This command formats the floppy disk for the DOS file system. C. You can also use infofor some commands. D. The more paging device can also be used one screen at a screen to view pages in a file. The E. mv command can transfer files or rename files in the same directory. If you want to rename the file, as shown in the example, "transfer" the file to a new name in the same directory.