Linux.com: CLI for Noobies: Directory Assistance, How May I Help You?

"In almost every column in this series, I've suggested that you use the man command to learn more about the commands being discussed. This week I'll show you why that's a good idea. Remember, there's a lot more to even the smallest commands, like ls, which lists the contents of a directory, than meets the eye. Let's drill down a bit and find out what else "ls" can do for us other than simply telling us the file names in a directory.

"The man page on "ls" tells us that the basic format of the command is:

ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

"By default, without any options, the command produces a list of file names in alphabetical order for either the current directory or the directories (the [FILE]s in the basic format shown above) specified..."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Linux.com: CLI for Noobies: Mother, May I?(Jan 27, 2004)
• NewsForge: CLI for Noobies: Making and Melting Tarballs(Nov 24, 2003)
• NewsForge: CLI for Noobies: An Initiation more or less(Nov 17, 2003)
• NewsForge: CLI for Noobies: Everything's a File(Nov 10, 2003)