Some Useful Linux/Backtrack Commands- For Noobs

Here, I'm sharing a list of some very common and useful Linux commands.

File/Directory Basics:
ls > List files
cp > Copy files
mv > Rename files
rm > Delete files
ln > Link files
cd > Change directory
pwd > Print current directory name
mkdir > Create directory
rmdir > Delete directory
File Viewing:
cat > View files
less > Page through files
head > View file beginning
tail > View file ending
nl > Number lines
od > View binary data
xxd > View binary data
gv > View Postscript/PDF files
xdvi > View TeX DVI files

File Creation and Editing:
emacs > Text editor
vim > Text editor
umask > Set default file protections
soffice > Edit Word/Excel/ PowerPoint docs
abiword > Edit Word documents
gnumeric > Edit Excel documents

File Properties:
stat > Display file attributes
wc > Count bytes/words/lines
du > Measure disk usage
file > Identify file types
touch > Change file times tamps
chown > Change file owner
chgrp > Change file group
chmod > Change file protections
chattr > Change advanced file attributes
lsattr > List advanced file attributes

File Location:
find > Locate files
slocate > Locate files via index
which > Locate commands
whereis > Locate standard files

File Text Manipulation:
grep > Search text for matching lines
cut > Extract columns
paste > Append columns
tr > Translate characters
sort > Sort lines
uniq > Locate identical lines
tee > Copy stdin to a file and to stdout simultaneously

File Compression:
gzip > Compress files (GNU Zip)
compress > Compress files (Unix)
bzip2 > Compress files (BZip2)
zip > Compress files (Windows Zip)

File Comparison:
diff > Compare files line by line
comm > Compare sorted files
cmp > Compare files byte by byte
md5sum > Compute checksums
Disks > and Filesystems
df > Show free disk space
mount > Make a disk accessible
fsck > Check a disk for errors
sync > Flush disk caches

Backups and Remote Storage:
mt > Control a tape drive
dump > Back up a disk
restore > Restore a dump
tar > Read/write tape archives
cdrecord > Burn a CD
rsync > Mirror a set of files

Keep Learning. Keep Rocking :)
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