apropos—searches the what is database for strings

apropos keyword …

apropos searches a set of database files (see directory /usr/man/whatis) containing short descriptions of system commands for keywords and displays the result on the standard output. Same as man -k.

Example A.1. 
1  $ apropos bash
					bash (1)                 - GNU Bourne-Again Shell

2  $ man -k tcsh
					tsh (1)               - C shell with filename completionand
					command line editing

Explanation

  1. apropos searches for the keyword bash and prints a short description of what it is.

  2. man -k behaves the same as apropos.

Get Linux Shells by Example now with O’Reilly online learning.

O’Reilly members experience live online training, plus books, videos, and digital content from 200+ publishers.

Start your free trial