Mac Os X: really basic Unix commands

Mac Os X: really basic Unix commands

02/12/2005 - 18:54 (Category: Linux/Mac Os X)

Are you aware of the Unix system beneath Mac Os X? Nope? Then you are missing something really useful. Let's see some really basic Unix commands you can type in Terminal (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal.app). Open Terminal and type:

1) pwd (meaning Print Working Directory) to know the current directory's name
2) cd .. (meaning Change Directory) to move to the directory above of the current directory
3) cd name_of_any_directory to move to the name_of_any_directory directory
4) cd to move to the home directory
5) cd ~ to move to the home directory (the same as cd alone)
6) cd / to move to the root directory
7) ls (meaning List) to list files inside of current directory
8) man name_of_command (meaning MANual, the online manual explaining any Unix command)

Notice that ls doesn't show you hidden files (.something files). To show hidden files, type:

ls -a

Now you can start browsing the whole Unix's folders tree beneath Mac Os X (Exit or Control-D to quit Terminal). Don't forget the man command. Man is the most useful command. Use it to know more about any command.

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