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Unix 4th edition commands reference guide
Use this reference guide for all of the section 1 commands from the Unix 4th edition manual.
Here’s a handy reference to all of the section 1 commands from the Unix 4th edition manual. The manual was divided into separate sections, and section 1 was reserved for general user commands:
- User commands
- System calls
- Programming routines
- Special files
- File formats
- User-maintained programs
- Miscellaneous entries
- Maintenance
You may be familiar with many of these commands. Most still exist in modern Linux systems, but a few have been replaced with other commands that do pretty much the same thing (like ar to make archives; you probably use zip or tar instead).
| Command | What it does |
| ar | create archives |
| cat | concatenate files |
| chdir | change directory |
| chmod | change mode |
| cmp | compare files |
| comm | print common lines |
| cp | copy files |
| date | print date |
| dc | desktop calculator |
| du | disk usage |
| echo | print output |
| ed | editor |
| exit | exit the shell |
| file | print file type |
| goto | shell scripting command |
| grep | search for text |
| if | shell scripting command |
| kill | terminate processes |
| ln | create links |
| login | sign into the system |
| ls | list files |
| send email | |
| man | manual pages |
| merge | combine files |
| mesg | allow or deny messages |
| mkdir | create directories |
| mv | move files |
| nice | run at low priority |
| nohup | run command without hangups |
| nroff | document preparation (new roff) |
| passwd | set password |
| pr | print files |
| ps | process status |
| rm | remove files |
| rmdir | remove directories |
| roff | document preparation (replaced by nroff) |
| sh | command shell |
| shift | adjust command line arguments |
| sleep | wait for an interval |
| sort | sort a file |
| split | break up a file |
| stty | set TeleType options |
| sum | checksum |
| time | how long it takes to run a command |
| tr | transliterate text |
| troff | document processor (typesetter roff) |
| tty | get TeleType name |
| uniq | remove repeated lines |
| wait | wait for a job to finish |
| wc | word count |
| who | list currently logged in users |
| write | send terminal message to a user |
These other section 1 commands were useful for programming.
| Command | What it does |
| as | assembler |
| bas | BASIC programming |
| cc | C compiler |
| cdb | C debugger |
| cref | cross reference listing |
| db | debugger |
| fc | FORTRAN compiler |
| ld | linker |
| nm | print name list |
| od | octal dump |
| size | the size of an object file |
| sno | SNOBOL interpreter |
| strip | remove symbols |
These other section 1 commands from Unix 4th Edition were specific to the Bell Labs environment. If you don’t recognize these, that’s because they were later dropped:
| Command | What it does |
| catsim | simulate a phototypesetter on a terminal |
| dsw | delete interactively |
| fed | form letter editor |
| form | form letter generator |
| opr | offline print to Honeywell 6070 |
| pfe | print floating exceptions |
| plot | make charts on a terminal |
| proof | compare text files (like diff) |
| rew | rewind a tape |
| speak | text to speech |
| tp | manage tapes |
| tss | connect to MH-TSS on Honeywell 6070 |
| type | print files to the TeleType like a typewriter |
| typo | find spelling errors |
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