Getting More Information About Filesystem Objects
You might be used to being able to tell what type of file you’re working with by looking at its filename. Typically, a three or four-letter extension gives it away. For example, foo.pdf is a PDF file, logo.png is a graphics file, and foo.txt is a plain-text file. But sometimes there’s no extension, and sometimes the files are named incorrectly.
The file command can help you figure out what type of file you’re working with. Try it out by pointing it at the greetings.txt file you created in the Desktop directory within your home directory:
| | $ file ~/Desktop/greetings.txt |
| | /home/brian/Desktop/greetings.txt: ASCII text |
The output tells you what’s in the file by looking at its content. Create ...
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