A purpose of a linux command

Ever happened to you that you needed to do something on your linux box and didn't know how ? Sure did!

In this case you usually call a friend or Google it. However, your linux box is full with documentation. If you don't know what to look for, a good place to start will be the command 'apropose'. This simple command knows which other command does what on your linux box.

Type in your terminal:

'apropose'

and you'll be answered

'apropos what?'

Now try:

'apropos disk usage'

and you'll get a list of commands dealing with disks and usage:

baobab (1)           - A graphical tool to analyse disk usage




cfdisk (8)           - Curses/slang based disk partition table manipulator fo...




df (1)               - report file system disk space usage




dvd+rw-booktype (1)  - format DVD+-RW/-RAM disk with a logical format




dvd+rw-format (1)    - format DVD+-RW/-RAM disk




dvd+rw-mediainfo (1) - display information about dvd drive and disk




edd_id (8)           - udev callout to identify BIOS disk drives via EDD




fdformat (8)         - Low-level formats a floppy disk




fdisk (8)            - Partition table manipulator for Linux




git-count-objects (1) - Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consu...




hd (4)               - MFM/IDE hard disk devices




hibernate (8)        - save your computer's state to disk, and then switch it...




hibernate-disk (8)   - save your computer's state to disk, and then switch it...




hibernate-ram (8)    - save your computer's state to disk, and then switch it...




initrd (4)           - boot loader initialized RAM disk




mkboot (8)           - makes a bootdisk




netscsid (1)         - write data to optical disk media




partx (8)            - telling the kernel about presence and numbering of on-...




ram (4)              - ram disk device




ramsize (8)          - query/set image root device, RAM disk size, or video mode




rdev (8)             - query/set image root device, RAM disk size, or video mode




resume (8)           - program to suspend to disk (hibernate)




rootflags (8)        - query/set image root device, RAM disk size, or video mode




s2both (8)           - program to suspend to disk (hibernate)




s2disk (8)           - program to suspend to disk (hibernate)




sd (4)               - Driver for SCSI Disk Drives




sfdisk (8)           - Partition table manipulator for Linux




suspend-keygen (8)   - program to generate a RSA key to be used by s2disk




sync (8)             - synchronize data on disk with memory




uswsusp.conf (8)     - Config file for the s2disk program




vidmode (8)          - query/set image root device, RAM disk size, or video mode




wodim (1)            - write data to optical disk media




xspirograph (6x)     - simulates the rotation of a disk inside a circular rim




du (1)               - estimate file space usage




pod2usage (1)        - print usage messages from embedded pod docs in files

Wonder how it works ? Simple as that: apropose reads the man pages for you. But you'll have to read a little bit more to understand how each command works.