The table is wide, so it’s broken into two layers: Core Commands and Distro-Specific Commands.
1. Universal Core Commands (POSIX/GNU Coreutils)
| Category |
Command |
Purpose |
| Navigation |
ls |
List directory contents |
|
cd |
Change directory |
|
pwd |
Print working directory |
| File Ops |
cp |
Copy files |
|
mv |
Move or rename |
|
rm |
Remove |
|
mkdir |
Create directory |
|
touch |
Create/modify timestamp |
| Viewing |
cat |
Display file contents |
|
less |
Paged viewer |
|
head / tail |
First/last lines |
| Editing |
vi |
Always present editor |
|
nano |
Sometimes installed editor |
| Processes |
ps |
Snapshot of processes |
|
top |
Live process monitor |
|
kill |
Send signals |
| System Info |
uname |
Kernel/system info |
|
df / du |
Disk usage |
|
free |
Memory usage |
| Networking |
ping |
Reachability |
|
curl / wget |
HTTP fetch |
|
ip |
Network configuration |
|
ss |
Socket summary |
| Permissions |
chmod |
Change permissions |
|
chown |
Change owner |
| Privilege |
sudo |
Run as superuser |
2. Distro-Specific Commands
A. Debian / Ubuntu / Mint / Pop!_OS
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
apt update |
Refresh package lists |
|
apt upgrade |
Upgrade packages |
|
apt install <pkg> |
Install package |
|
apt remove <pkg> |
Remove package |
|
dpkg -i <pkg.deb> |
Install local .deb |
|
dpkg -l |
List installed .deb packages |
| Services |
systemctl <action> |
Manage systemd services |
| Logs |
journalctl -u <service> |
View service logs |
| Networking |
netplan |
Network config (Ubuntu) |
|
nmcli |
NetworkManager control |
B. RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux / Fedora
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
dnf install <pkg> |
Install |
|
dnf remove <pkg> |
Remove |
|
dnf groupinstall "<group>" |
Install package groups |
|
Legacy: yum |
Older package manager |
| Services |
systemctl <action> |
Service control |
| SELinux |
getenforce |
Query mode |
|
setenforce |
Change mode |
|
sestatus |
SELinux status |
|
semanage |
Policy configuration |
C. Arch / Manjaro / EndeavourOS
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
pacman -S <pkg> |
Install |
|
pacman -R <pkg> |
Remove |
|
pacman -Ss <pattern> |
Search repos |
|
pacman -Qi <pkg> |
Package info |
|
pacman -Syu |
Full system upgrade |
| AUR |
yay -S <pkg> |
Install AUR pkg |
|
paru -S <pkg> |
Install AUR pkg |
D. openSUSE (Leap & Tumbleweed)
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
zypper install <pkg> |
Install |
|
zypper remove <pkg> |
Remove |
|
zypper refresh |
Refresh repos |
|
zypper search <pattern> |
Search packages |
| Config Mgmt |
yast |
Unified admin tool |
E. Alpine Linux
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
apk update |
Refresh repos |
|
apk add <pkg> |
Install |
|
apk del <pkg> |
Remove |
| System Difference |
busybox |
Lightweight coreutils replacement |
F. NixOS
| Area |
Command |
Purpose |
| Package Mgmt |
nix-env -i <pkg> |
Install per-user pkg |
|
nix-env -e <pkg> |
Remove |
|
nix search |
Search |
| System Config |
nixos-rebuild switch |
Rebuild system declaratively |
@mundu_mulosi Admin the UX on this platform is A+ buana.