Unix commands


Unix commands

Unix was developed as a command line interface in the early 1970s with a very rich command vocabulary. DOS followed more than a decade later for the IBM PC, and DOS commands migrated to Windows. Although DOS/Windows commands cover the basics, the command set was never as elaborate as Unix. Microsoft later added a more comprehensive command language for Windows (see PowerShell).

Linux and Mac Are Unix Based
Linux, as well as Mac OS X, are based on Unix and use the same command line syntax (see terminal). Unix text is generally case sensitive, which means "abC" is not the same as "ABc." DOS/Windows text is not however, and "abC" and "ABc" are equal. Following is a brief comparison of common Unix/Linux commands and their DOS/Windows counterparts.

FILE/FOLDEROPERATION UNIX DOS/WINDOWS Change ** directory  cd cd Create ** directory  mkdir mkdir, md Remove ** directory  rmdir rmdir, rd List file names  ls dir Copy file cp copy Delete file rm del Rename file  mv ren Display file contents cat type Print file lpr print ** A "directory" is a folder.