How to use the 'man' & 'info' commands

Our Linux systems have built-in help for just about every command. Some commands themselves provide help information. Try typing the command all by itself, or appending -h or --help or --usage. (For example, dvips by itself tells you some information, and dvips --help tells you even more information.) In addition, there are the 'man' and 'info' help facilities.

The 'man' facility

All commands have some kind of online documentation. You can access this using the man command

1. Open a new terminal window. Type the words man ls .

   

2. You can now view important information on the ls command.

   

3. You can scroll down the pages by pressing the spacebar or by using the up and down arrow keys.
   1. For help, press H
   2. To quit, press Q
   3. To search for a menu item, press M

The 'info' facility

Some commands are also documented inside the info system. (The information here complements what is offered by the man command.

1. Open a new terminal window. Type the words info ls .

   

2. You can now view a manual with important information on the ls command.

   

3. You can scroll down the pages by pressing the spacebar or by using the up and down arrow keys.
   1. For help, press H
   2. To quit, press Q
   3. To search for a menu item, press M