quick one about cp and mv commands

[j0n1n]

hi guys,

when copying or moving files or directories using cp or mv

do you have to be in that working directory (be where the files or dirs are that you want to copy) whats the quickest way to do this as i find some paths really long...is there a trick or secret to doing this?

thanks
j0n1n

[elija]

No. You can be anywhere the file system and use absolute paths (starting from the root). Personally, I usually end up in the destination directory so I can simply use . to mean to here

cp -R /home/someuser/filesinareallylongdirectoryname/to/copy .

however the tab key is your friend when typing at the command line. Enter the first few characters and press tab...

cp -R /home/some<TAB>/fil<TAB>/to/copy .

You'll love it

[j0n1n]

thanks for that man...this truly is the best forum i have ever laid my fingers on...