Linux From Scratch: Version 5.0-pre1
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# Coreutils

For installation instructions see the Section called Installing Coreutils-5.0 in Chapter 6.

## Official Download Location

Coreutils (5.0):
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/

## Contents of Coreutils

The Coreutils package contains a whole series of basic shell utilities.

Coreutils installs the following:

### Program Files

basename, cat, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot, cksum, comm, cp, csplit, cut, date, dd, df, dir, dircolors, dirname, du, echo, env, expand, expr, factor, false, fmt, fold, groups, head, hostid, hostname, id, install, join, kill, link, ln, logname, ls, md5sum, mkdir, mkfifo, mknod, mv, nice, nl, nohup, od, paste, pathchk, pinky, pr, printenv, printf, ptx, pwd, readlink, rm, rmdir, seq, sha1sum, shred, sleep, sort, split, stat, stty, su, sum, sync, tac, tail, tee, test, touch, tr, true, tsort, tty, uname, unexpand, uniq, unlink, uptime, users, vdir, wc, who, whoami, yes

##

## Descriptions

### Program file descriptions

#### basename

basename strips directory and suffixes from filenames.

#### cat

cat concatenates file(s) or standard input to standard output.

#### chgrp

chgrp changes the group ownership of each given file to the named group, which can be either a group name or a numeric group ID.

#### chmod

chmod changes the permissions of each given file according to mode, which can be either a symbolic representation of changes to make or an octal number representing the bit pattern for the new permissions.

#### chown

chown changes the user and/or group ownership of each given file.

#### chroot

chroot runs a command or interactive shell with special root directory.

#### cksum

cksum prints CRC checksum and byte counts of each specified file.

#### comm

comm compares two sorted files line by line.

#### cp

cp copies files from one place to another.

#### csplit

csplit outputs pieces of a file separated by (a) pattern(s) to files xx01, xx02, ..., and outputs byte counts of each piece to standard output.

#### cut

cut prints selected parts of lines from specified files to standard output.

#### date

date displays the current time in a specified format, or sets the system date.

#### dd

dd copies a file (from the standard input to the standard output, by default) with a user-selectable blocksize, while optionally performing conversions on it.

#### df

df displays the amount of disk space available on the filesystem containing each file name argument. If no file name is given, the space available on all currently mounted filesystems is shown.

#### dir, ls and vdir

dir and vdir are versions of ls with different default output formats. These programs list each given file or directory name. Directory contents are sorted alphabetically. For ls, files are, by default, listed in columns sorted vertically if the standard output is a terminal; otherwise they are listed one per line. For dir, files are, by default, listed in columns sorted vertically. For vdir, files are, by default, listed in long format.

#### dircolors

dircolors outputs commands to set the LS_COLOR environment variable. The LS_COLOR variable is use to change the default color scheme used by ls and related utilities.

#### dirname

dirname strips non-directory suffixes from file name.

#### du

du displays the amount of disk space used by each file or directory listed on the command-line and by each of their subdirectories.

#### echo

echo displays a line of text.

#### env

env runs a program in a modified environment.

#### expand

expand converts tabs in files to spaces, writing to standard output.

#### expr

expr evaluates expressions.

#### factor

factor prints the prime factors of all specified integer numbers.

#### false

false always exits with a status code indicating failure.

#### fmt

fmt reformats each paragraph in the specified file(s), writing to standard output.

#### fold

fold wraps input lines in each specified file (standard input by default), writing to standard output.

#### groups

groups prints a user's group memberships.

#### head

head prints the first xx (10 by default) lines of each specified file to standard output.

#### hostid

hostid prints the numeric identifier (in hexadecimal) for the current host.

#### hostname

hostname reports or sets the name of the current host.

#### id

id prints the effective user and group IDs of the current user or a given user.

#### install

install copies files and sets their permission modes and, if possible, their owner and group.

#### join

join joins lines of two files on a common field.

#### kill

kill terminates the given process.

#### ln

ln makes hard or soft (symbolic) links between files.

#### logname

logname prints the current user's login name.

#### md5sum

md5sum prints or checks MD5 checksums.

#### mkdir

mkdir creates directories with a given name.

#### mkfifo

mkfifo creates a FIFO with each given name.

#### mknod

mknod creates a FIFO, character special file or block special file with the given file name.

#### mv

mv moves files from one directory to another or renames files, depending on the arguments given to mv.

#### nice

nice runs a program with modified scheduling priority.

#### nl

nl writes each specified file to standard output, with line numbers added.

#### nohup

nohup runs a command immune to hangups, with output to a log file.

#### od

od writes an unambiguous representation, octal bytes by default, of a specified file to standard output.

#### paste

paste writes lines consisting of the sequentially corresponding lines from each specified file, separated by TABs, to standard output.

#### pathchk

pathchk checks whether file names are valid or portable.

#### pinky

pinky is a lightweight finger utility which retrieves information about a certain user.

#### pr

pr paginates or columnates files for printing.

#### printenv

printenv prints all or part of the environment.

#### printf

printf formats and prints data (the same as the C printf function).

#### ptx

ptx produces a permuted index of file contents.

#### pwd

pwd prints the name of the current/working directory.

#### rm

rm removes files or directories.

#### rmdir

rmdir removes directories, if they are empty.

#### seq

seq prints numbers in a certain range with a certain increment.

#### sha1sum

sha1sum prints or checks 160-bit SHA1checksums.

#### shred

shred deletes a file securely, overwriting it first so that its contents can't be recovered.

#### sleep

sleep delays for a specified amount of time.

#### sort

sort writes sorted concatenation of files to standard output.

#### split

split outputs fixed-size pieces of an input file to PREFIXaa, PREFIXab, ...

#### stty

stty changes and prints terminal line settings.

#### su

su runs a shell with substitute user and group IDs.

#### sum

sum prints checksum and block counts for each specified file.

#### sync

sync forces changed blocks to disk and updates the super block.

#### tac

tac writes each specified file to standard output, last line first.

#### tail

tail print the last xx (10 by default) lines of each specified file to standard output.

#### tee

tee reads from standard input and writes to standard output and files.

#### test

test checks file types and compares values.

#### touch

touch changes the access and modification times of each given file to the current time. Files that do not exist are created empty.

#### tr

tr translates, squeezes, and/or deletes characters from standard input, writing to standard output.

#### true

true always exits with a status code indicating success.

#### tsort

tsort writes totally ordered lists consistent with the partial ordering in specified files.

#### tty

tty prints the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.

#### uname

uname prints system information.

#### unexpand

unexpand converts spaces in each file to tabs, writing to standard output.

#### uniq

uniq removes duplicate lines from a sorted file.

#### uptime

uptime tells how long the system has been running.

#### users

users prints the user names of users currently logged in to the current host.

#### wc

wc prints line, word and byte counts for each specified file and a total line, if more than one file is specified.

#### who

who shows who is logged on.

#### whoami

whoami prints the user name associated with the current effective user ID.

#### yes

yes outputs 'y' or a given string repeatedly, until killed.

##

## Coreutils Installation Dependencies

Not yet checked but probably something like this:

Bash: sh
Binutils: ar, as, ld, ranlib
Coreutils: basename, cat, chmod, chown, echo, expr, hostname,
install, ls, mv, rm, sleep, tr, uname
Diffutils: cmp
Gawk: gawk
GCC: cc, cc1, collect2, cpp0, gcc
Gettext: msgfmt, xgettext
Glibc: getconf
Grep: egrep, fgrep, grep
Make: make
Perl: perl
Sed: sed
Tar: tar
Texinfo: install-info, makeinfo

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