FreeBSD6 Unleashed

Command Options

Most of the commands given in this appendix can be given options, also known as switches or arguments. To supply an option to a command, follow the command name with a space, and then with a dash, and then the letter of the option. For example, to display a directory listing in long format, the option to use is –l. Therefore, the command looks like this:

ls -l

If the option you are supplying requires more than one character (for example, if it’s a complete word), you must use a double dash before the option (an example would be --password). If you don’t, each letter will be treated as a separate option, which can have unexpected or even destructive effects depending on what the options do.

Note that because letters are treated ...