The Top 10 Most Commonly Used Linux Commands (AI Driven Results)

If you haven’t heard by now, chat.openai.com is the latest rage in artificial intelligence tech. So we decided to take it out for a spin.

We asked it to write an article on the TOP 10 LINUX COMMANDS with the most often used parameters. This is what it came up with:

  1. ls – The ls command is used to list the contents of a directory. For example, the command ls /home will list the contents of the /home directory.
  2. cd – The cd command is used to change the current working directory. For example, the command cd /home will change the current directory to /home.
  3. mkdir – The mkdir command is used to create a new directory. For example, the command mkdir /home/my_directory will create a new directory called my_directory in the /home directory.
  4. rm – The rm command is used to delete a file or directory. For example, the command rm /home/my_directory will delete the my_directory directory in the /home directory.
  5. mv – The mv command is used to move or rename a file or directory. For example, the command mv /home/my_directory /home/my_new_directory will rename the my_directory directory in the /home directory to my_new_directory.
  6. cp – The cp command is used to copy a file or directory. For example, the command cp /home/my_directory /home/my_new_directory will copy the my_directory directory in the /home directory to a new directory called my_new_directory.
  7. cat – The cat command is used to display the contents of a file. For example, the command cat /home/my_file.txt will display the contents of the my_file.txt file in the /home directory.
  8. grep – The grep command is used to search for a pattern in a file or group of files. For example, the command grep "my_pattern" /home/my_file.txt will search for the string “my_pattern” in the my_file.txt file in the /home directory.
  9. find – The find command is used to search for files or directories based on certain criteria. For example, the command find /home -name "my_file.txt" will search for files named my_file.txt in the /home directory and its subdirectories.
  10. chmod – The chmod command is used to change the permissions of a file or directory. For example, the command chmod 755 /home/my_directory will change the permissions of the my_directory directory in the /home directory to allow read, write, and execute permissions for the owner, and read and execute permissions for others.

Next, we asked it to expand on the examples. It gave us this:

  1. ls – The ls command can be used with various options to list the contents of a directory in different ways. For example, the command ls -a /home will list all files and directories, including hidden ones, in the /home directory. The command ls -l /home will list the contents of the /home directory in a long format, showing detailed information such as permissions, owner, and file size.
  2. cd – The cd command can be used with the -P option to change the current directory to the physical directory, instead of following symbolic links. For example, the command cd -P /home/my_link will change the current directory to the physical directory that my_link is pointing to, instead of following the symbolic link.
  3. mkdir – The mkdir command can be used with the -p option to create a directory and any necessary parent directories in one command. For example, the command mkdir -p /home/my_directory/my_subdirectory will create the my_subdirectory directory in the my_directory directory, and create the my_directory directory in the /home directory if it does not already exist.
  4. rm – The rm command can be used with the -r option to recursively delete a directory and all of its contents. For example, the command rm -r /home/my_directory will delete the my_directory directory and all of its contents, including any subdirectories and files.
  5. mv – The mv command can be used with the -f option to force the move or rename operation, even if a file or directory with the same name already exists. For example, the command mv -f /home/my_directory /home/my_new_directory will rename the my_directory directory in the /home directory to my_new_directory, even if a directory with the name my_new_directory already exists.
  6. cp – The cp command can be used with the -r option to recursively copy a directory and all of its contents. For example, the command cp -r /home/my_directory /home/my_new_directory will copy the my_directory directory and all of its contents, including any subdirectories and files, to a new directory called my_new_directory in the /home directory.
  7. cat – The cat command can be used with the -n option to display line numbers for the contents of a file. For example, the command cat -n /home/my_file.txt will display the contents of the my_file.txt file in the /home directory, with line numbers for each line.
  8. grep – The grep command can be used with the -c option to count the number of occurrences of a pattern in a file or group of files. For example, the command grep -c "my_pattern" /home/my_file.txt will search for the string “my_pattern” in the my_file.txt file in the /home directory and output the number of occurrences found.
  9. find – The find command can be used with the -type option to search for files or directories of a specific type.

Not bad, but looks like it dropped one of the commands since we only got a list of 9 items instead of the 10 in our original request. Still, we continued experimenting. We asked it to write an entire article dedicated to the ‘ls’ command – it gave us the following results:


The ls command is a fundamental Linux command that is used to list the contents of a directory. It is one of the most commonly used commands, and is often the first command that new Linux users learn. In this article, we will discuss the ls command in detail, including its basic usage and some advanced options that can be used to customize its output.

To use the ls command, simply type ls followed by the path of the directory you want to list. For example, the command ls /home will list the contents of the /home directory. By default, the ls command will list the names of the files and directories in the specified directory, one per line.

The ls command has many options that can be used to customize its output. For example, the -a option can be used to list all files and directories, including hidden ones that start with a period (.). The -l option can be used to display the contents of the directory in a long format, showing detailed information such as permissions, owner, and file size. The -t option can be used to sort the contents of the directory by modification time, with the most recently modified files and directories appearing first.

In addition to the options mentioned above, the ls command has many other options that can be used to customize its output. For example, the -r option can be used to reverse the order of the output, the -h option can be used to display file sizes in a human-readable format, and the -R option can be used to recursively list the contents of all subdirectories.

To view a complete list of options available for the ls command, you can use the ls --help command, which will display a usage summary and a list of all available options.

In conclusion, the ls command is a powerful and versatile tool that is essential for managing files and directories in Linux. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced Linux user, learning how to use the ls command will help you effectively navigate and manage your files and directories.


Bottom line – if your query hits the chat.opeai.com AI sweet spot, you get scary good results that will serve as a great starting point for articles. The above results are a little hard to read but if you’re writing an article it provides a nice initial outline. Or, if you really need an answer that is a little more than a list of Google links, this chat bot just might be the ticket.

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