GNU Core Utilities

GNU Core Utilities

Developer(s)	GNU Project

Stable release	8.26 (November 30, 2016 (2016-11-30)) [±]^[1]
Repository	git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git
Written in	C
Operating system	Unix-like
Type	Miscellaneous utilities
License	GNU GPL v3
Website	www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/

The GNU Core Utilities or coreutils is a package of GNU software containing reimplementations for many of the basic tools, such as cat, ls, and rm, used on Unix-like operating systems.

History

In September 2002 the GNU coreutils were created by merging the earlier packages textutils, shellutils, and fileutils, along with some other miscellaneous utilities.^[2] In July 2007 the license of the GNU coreutils was updated from GPLv2 to GPLv3.^[3]

Capabilities

The GNU core utilities support long options as parameters to the commands, as well as (unless the POSIXLY_CORRECT environment variable is set) the relaxed convention allowing options even after the regular arguments. Note that this environment variable enables a different functionality in BSD.

Programs in coreutils 8.26
File utilities
`chcon`	Changes file security context (SELinux)
`chgrp`	Changes file group ownership
`chown`	Changes file ownership
`chmod`	Changes the permissions of a file or directory
`cp`	Copies a file or directory
`dd`	Copies and converts a file
`df`	Shows disk free space on file systems
`dir`	Is exactly like "`ls -C -b`". (Files are by default listed in columns and sorted vertically.)
`dircolors`	Set up color for `ls`
`install`	Copies files and set attributes
`ln`	Creates a link to a file
`ls`	Lists the files in a directory
`mkdir`	Creates a directory
`mkfifo`	Makes named pipes (FIFOs)
`mknod`	Makes block or character special files
`mktemp`	Creates a temporary file or directory
`mv`	Moves files or rename files
`realpath`	Returns the resolved absolute or relative path for a file
`rm`	Removes (deletes) files
`rmdir`	Removes empty directories
`shred`	Overwrites a file to hide its contents, and optionally deletes it
`sync`	Flushes file system buffers
`touch`	Changes file timestamps
`truncate`	Shrink or extend the size of a file to the specified size
`vdir`	Is exactly like "`ls -l -b`". (Files are by default listed in long format.)
Text utilities
`b2sum`	Computes and checks Blake2 message digest
`base32`	base32 encodes or decodes data and prints to standard output
`base64`	base64 encodes or decodes data and prints to standard output
`cat`	Concatenates and prints files on the standard output
`cksum`	Checksums and count the bytes in a file
`comm`	Compares two sorted files line by line
`csplit`	Splits a file into sections determined by context lines
`cut`	Removes sections from each line of files
`expand`	Converts tabs to spaces
`fmt`	Simple optimal text formatter
`fold`	Wraps each input line to fit in specified width
`head`	Outputs the first part of files
`join`	Joins lines of two files on a common field
`md5sum`	Computes and checks MD5 message digest
`nl`	Numbers lines of files
`numfmt`	Reformat numbers
`od`	Dumps files in octal and other formats
`paste`	Merges lines of files
`ptx`	Produces a permuted index of file contents
`pr`	Converts text files for printing
`sha1sum`, `sha224sum`, `sha256sum`, `sha384sum`, `sha512sum`	Computes and checks SHA-1, SHA-224/256/384/512 message digest
`shuf`	generate random permutations
`sort`	sort lines of text files
`split`	Splits a file into pieces
`sum`	Checksums and counts the blocks in a file
`tac`	Concatenates and prints files in reverse order line by line
`tail`	Outputs the last part of files
`tr`	Translates or deletes characters
`tsort`	Performs a topological sort
`unexpand`	Converts spaces to tabs
`uniq`	Removes duplicate lines from a sorted file
`wc`	Prints the number of bytes, words, and lines in files
Shell utilities
`arch`	Prints machine hardware name (same as uname -m)
`basename`	Removes the path prefix from a given pathname
`chroot`	Changes the root directory
`date`	Prints or sets the system date and time
`dirname`	Strips non-directory suffix from file name
`du`	Shows disk usage on file systems
`echo`	Displays a specified line of text
`env`	Displays and modifies environment variables
`expr`	Evaluates expressions
`factor`	Factors numbers
`false`	Does nothing, but exits unsuccessfully
`groups`	Prints the groups of which the user is a member
`hostid`	Prints the numeric identifier for the current host
`id`	Prints real or effective UID and GID
`link`	Creates a link to a file
`logname`	Print the user's login name
`nice`	Modifies scheduling priority
`nohup`	Allows a command to continue running after logging out
`nproc`	Queries the number of (active) processors
`pathchk`	Checks whether file names are valid or portable
`pinky`	A lightweight version of finger
`printenv`	Prints environment variables
`printf`	Formats and prints data
`pwd`	Prints the current working directory
`readlink`	Displays value of a symbolic link
`runcon`	Run command with specified security context
`seq`	Prints a sequence of numbers
`sleep`	Delays for a specified amount of time
`stat`	Returns data about an inode
`stdbuf`	Controls buffering for commands that use stdio
`stty`	Changes and prints terminal line settings
`tee`	Sends output to multiple files
`test`	Evaluates an expression
`timeout`	Run a command with a time limit
`true`	Does nothing, but exits successfully
`tty`	Prints terminal name
`uname`	Prints system information
`unlink`	Removes the specified file using the `unlink` function
`uptime`	Tells how long the system has been running
`users`	Prints the user names of users currently logged into the current host
`who`	Prints a list of all users currently logged in
`whoami`	Prints the effective userid
`yes`	Prints a string repeatedly
Other Utilities
`[`	A synonym for test; this program permits expressions like [ expression ].
System utilities

Alternatives

In the FOSS ecosystem there are alternative implementation packages available with slightly different scope and focus or license, for instance for embedded devices exists the GPLv2 licensed BusyBox and the BSD licensed Toybox.

References

↑ Brady, Pádraig (2016-11-30). "[coreutils-announce] coreutils-8.26 released [stable]". coreutils-announce (Mailing list). Retrieved 2016-11-30.
↑ package-renamed-to-coreutils on savannah.gnu.org
↑ Copying on savannah.gnu.org

External links

GNU Project

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Licenses	GNU General Public License GNU Lesser General Public License Affero General Public License GNU Free Documentation License GPL linking exception

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Unix command-line interface programs and shell builtins

File system	cat chmod chown chgrp cksum cmp cp dd du df file fsck fuser ln ls mkdir mount mv pax pwd rm rmdir split tee touch type umask

Processes	at bg chroot cron fg kill killall nice pgrep pkill ps pstree time top

User environment	clear env exit finger history logname mesg passwd su sudo uptime talk tput uname w wall who whoami write

Text processing	awk banner basename comm csplit cut diff dirname ed ex fmt fold head iconv join less more nl paste printf sed sort spell strings tail tr uniq vi wc xargs yes

Shell builtins	alias cd echo test unset wait

Networking	dig host ifconfig inetd netcat netstat nslookup ping rdate rlogin route ssh traceroute

Searching	find grep locate whatis whereis

Documentation	apropos help man

Miscellaneous	bc dc cal expr lp od sleep true and false

List of Unix commands

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