Other Utilities
Here are some other commands that are useful to know.
Linux Command | Description |
clear | Clear the screen |
echo | Display text on the screen. Mostly useful when writing shell scripts. For example: echo “Hello World” |
more | Display a file, or program output one page at a time. Examples: more mp3files.txt ls -la | more |
less | An improved replacement for the “more” command. Allows you to scroll backwards as well as forwards. |
grep | Search for a pattern in a file or program output. For example, to find out which TCP network port is used by the “nfs” service, you can do this:
grep nfs /etc/services This looks for any line that contains the string “nfs” in the file “/etc/services” and displays only those lines. |
lpr | Print a file or program output. Examples: lpr mp3files.txt (Print the mp3files.txt file) ls -la | lpr (Print the output of the “ls -la” command) |
sort | Sort a file or program output. Example: sort mp3files.txt |
su | “Switch User”. Allows you to switch to another user’s account temporarily. The default account to switch to is the root/superuser account. Examples: su - (Switch the root account) su - (Switch to root, and log in with root's environment) su larry (Switch to Larry's account) |