 
If you're just beginning to work on a Linux system, the abundance of commands might prove daunting. To help orient you, the following lists present a sampling of commands on various topics.
| ftp | File Transfer Protocol. | 
| login | Sign on. | 
| rlogin | Sign on to remote system. | 
| rsh | Run shell or single command on remote system (not particularly secure). | 
| ssh | Run shell or single command on remote system (secure). | 
| talk | Exchange messages interactively with other terminals. | 
| telnet | Connect to another system. | 
| tftp | Trivial File Transfer Protocol. | 
| uudecode | Decode file prepared for mailing by uuencode. | 
| uuencode | Encode file containing binary characters for mailing. | 
| vacation | Respond to mail automatically. | 
| cmp | Compare two files, byte by byte. | 
| comm | Compare items in two sorted files. | 
| diff | Compare two files, line by line. | 
| diff3 | Compare three files. | 
| Concatenate files or display them. | |
| chfn | Change user information for finger, email, etc. | 
| cksum | Compute checksum. | 
| chmod | Change access modes on files. | 
| chsh | Change login shell. | 
| cp | Copy files. | 
| csplit | Split a file into pieces with a specific size or at specific locations. | 
| dd | Copy files in raw disk form. | 
| file | Determine a file's type. | 
| head | Show the first few lines of a file. | 
| less | Display files by screenful. | 
| ln | Create filename aliases. | 
| ls | List files or directories. | 
| merge | Merge changes from different files. | 
| mkdir | Create a directory. | 
| more | Display files by screenful. | 
| mv | Move or rename files or directories. | 
| newgrp | Change current group. | 
| pwd | Print working directory. | 
| rcp | Copy files to remote system. | 
| rm | Remove files. | 
| rmdir | Remove directories. | 
| split | Split files evenly. | 
| tail | Show the last few lines of a file. | 
| wc | Count lines, words, and characters. | 
| Rip a CD to create a computer-friendly WAV format. | |
| cdparanoia | Rip a CD while providing extra features. | 
| cdrdao | Copy a CD. | 
| cdrecord | Record to a CD. | 
| eject | Eject a removable disk or tape. | 
| mpg321 | Play an MP3 file. | 
| volname | Provide the volume name of a CD-ROM. | 
| Show status of print jobs. | |
| lpr | Send to the printer. | 
| lprm | Remove print job. | 
| lpstat | Get printer status. | 
| pr | Format and paginate for printing. | 
| ar | Create and update library files. | 
| as | Generate object file. | 
| bison | Generate parsing tables. | 
| cpp | Preprocess C code. | 
| flex | Lexical analyzer. | 
| g++ | GNU C++ compiler. | 
| gcc | GNU C compiler. | 
| ld | Link editor. | 
| m4 | Macro processor. | 
| make | Create programs. | 
| ranlib | Regenerate archive symbol table. | 
| rpcgen | Translate RPC to C code. | 
| yacc | Generate parsing tables. | 
| Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. | |
| etags | Generate symbol list for use with the Emacs editor. | 
| gdb | GNU debugger. | 
| gprof | Display object file's profile data. | 
| imake | Generate makefiles for use with make. | 
| make | Maintain, update, and regenerate related programs and files. | 
| nm | Display object file's symbol table. | 
| patch | Apply patches to source code. | 
| rcs | Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. | 
| size | Print the size of an object file in bytes. | 
| strace | Trace system calls and signals. | 
| strip | Strip symbols from an object file. | 
| Search manpages for topic. | |
| egrep | Extended version of grep. | 
| fgrep | Search files for literal words. | 
| find | Search the system for files by name and take a range of possible actions. | 
| grep | Search files for text patterns. | 
| locate | Search a preexisting database to show where files are on the system. | 
| strings | Search binary files for text patterns. | 
| whereis | Find command. | 
| echo | Repeat command-line arguments on the output. | 
| expr | Perform arithmetic and comparisons. | 
| printf | Format and print command-line arguments. | 
| sleep | Pause during processing. | 
| test | Test a condition. | 
| Compress files to free up space. | |
| cpio | Create and unpack file archives. | 
| gunzip | Expand compressed (.gz and .Z) files. | 
| gzip | Compress files to free up space. | 
| shar | Create shell archive. | 
| tar | Copy files to or restore files from an archive medium. | 
| zcat | Display contents of compressed files. | 
| at | Execute commands later. | 
| atq | Show jobs queued by at. | 
| atrm | Remove job queued by at. | 
| chgrp | Change file group. | 
| chown | Change file owner. | 
| crontab | Automate commands. | 
| date | Display or set date. | 
| df | Show free disk space. | 
| du | Show disk usage. | 
| env | Show environment variables. | 
| finger | Display information about users. | 
| kill | Terminate a running command. | 
| printenv | Show environment variables. | 
| ps | Show processes. | 
| stty | Set or display terminal settings. | 
| who | Show who is logged in. | 
| col | Process control characters. | 
| cut | Select columns for display. | 
| emacs | Work environment with powerful text editing capabilities. | 
| ex | Line editor underlying vi. | 
| expand | Convert tabs to spaces. | 
| fmt | Produce roughly uniform line lengths. | 
| fold | Break lines. | 
| gawk | Process lines or records one by one. | 
| ghostscript | Display PostScript or PDF file. | 
| groff | Format troff input. | 
| ispell | Interactively check spelling. | 
| join | Merge different columns into a database. | 
| paste | Merge columns or switch order. | 
| rev | Print lines in reverse. | 
| sed | Noninteractive text editor. | 
| sort | Sort or merge files. | 
| tac | Print lines in reverse. | 
| tr | Translate (redefine) characters. | 
| uniq | Find repeated or unique lines in a file. | 
| vi | Visual text editor. | 
| xargs | Process many arguments in manageable portions. | 
| Make posters from words. | |
| bc | Arbitrary precision calculator. | 
| cal | Display calendar. | 
| clear | Clear the screen. | 
| man | Get information on a command. | 
| nice | Reduce a job's priority. | 
| nohup | Preserve a running job after logging out. | 
| passwd | Set your login password. | 
| script | Produce a transcript of your login session. | 
| su | Become a superuser. | 
| tee | Simultaneously store output in file and send to screen. | 
| which | 
 
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