As a long time Linux user I’ve always wondered what it’s like to use Windows. Whether you’re switching from Windows to Linux or vice versa, this post is here to help you quickly navigate the command line with a side by side comparison between the Linux terminal and the Windows command prompt. This post assumes you have basic knowledge of at least one.
Viewing Contents of a directory
Both Linux and Windows make it easy to see what’s inside a folder. Don’t forget about flags! In Linux you can use flags like -l -i and -a to see hidden files and permissions
Windows
$ dir
Linux
$ ls
Create File
Creating files is another dead simple task in both systems.
Windows
$ echo contents_of_file > file.txt
Linux
$ touch file.txt #for empty file
$ echo “contents of file” > not_empty.txt
Create a Folder / Directory
Creating a directory is super easy in both Linux and Windows on the command lines. In fact… It’s the same!
Windows
$ mkdir folder_name
Linux
$ mkdir folder_name
Heading
Summ
Windows
cmd
Linux
cmd
Change Directories
Probably one of if not the most commonly used command is moving in and out of directories so you can navigate your file system. Windows is WEIRD on this one. The Windows file system uses that “\” slash instead of / but for some reason getting out of directories uses the / So let’s see how it works below:
Windows
$ cd folder\you\want #puts me in want/ folder.
$ cd ../../.. # takes me out
Linux
$ cd folder/you/want
$ cd ../../../ #moves out of a dir
View current directory
I’ve never needed this command but viewing the present working directory can be done by running this:
Windows
$ cd
Linux
$ pwd
Rename a file/folder
Windows
$ rename old_filename new_filename
Linux
$ mv old_filename new_filename
Move a file/folder
Moving stuff around is pretty common, and pretty easy.
Windows
$ move file_to_move location\you\want
Linux
$ mv file.txt where/you/want
That covers most of the commands you’ll want to use in the command line. There’s a quite a few more below that I’ll get to later down the line but that should hopefully get you started.
Coming Soon:
delete file
delete folder
lsblk
mount
df
uname
ps
kill
Shutdown init 0
copy file / folder
cat
head / tail
copy
less / grep / awk
curl
find
grep
sed
echo
clear
sudo
chmod chown
man tar make
