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This article will learn about the info command. The info command is used to display program’s info entry.
You have read about the man command, whatis command, apropos command. Now we will learn more about a similar command. Command info.
Use info command to display program’s info entry
The GNU project provides an alternative to man pages for their programs, which is info.
The info page displays a content frame for the reader with complete information and presented as a hyperlink.
This is the difference between the usual man page and the info page.
You can understand that the content in the info page is divided into pages (we call it node). These nodes link together via hyperlink.
And so, you can access other content nodes like accessing a normal HTML website without css.
The first example with the info command
Now try typing the command below and see if the window appears like this.
$ info mkdir
Pay attention to the underlined lines. These are hyperlinks in the info page.
You can use the arrow keys on the keyboard, move to those hyperlinks and press Enter to access the link.
And now you can read the information in the info page you want.
Remember: Move the arrow key to the underline, click Enter to access the link.
The command table of the info command
Unlike web browsing in the browser, you can click. In the terminal window, you must use the keys on the keyboard.
The table below gives you the command of what info command contains.
| Press Key | Action |
| ? | Display command help. |
| PgUp or BackSpace | Display previous page. |
| PgDn or Space | Display next page. |
| n | n in the next word. Display the next node. |
| p | p in the previous word. Display the previous node. |
| u | Up – Display the parent node of the currently displayed node, usually a menu. |
| Enter | Follow the hyperlink at the cursor location |
| q | Quit |
I cannot describe all of the keys above, the only thing I can say is that you rely on it and practice.
Recommended Reading: Display brief description of commands using “whatis” command
You yourself will understand how those keys work.
Conclusion
The info command is practically unnoticed and used. The useful use of these commands in Linux sysadmin work is very little.
However, as I said, knowing something more is better and it doesn’t hurt at all.
(This is an article from my old blog that has been inactive for a long time, I don’t want to throw it away so I will keep it and hope it helps someone).
