What happens when you give the following command mv to do done if the file named done already exist?

Answer 1

the cp command would copy "do" over "done"

if this isn't the behavior you want, you can do "cp -n" to not overwrite if "done" exists, or "cp -i" to prompt you whether you want to overwrite or not.

Answer 2

The command

mv to do done

will attempt to move 2 files, to and do, into the directory done.

mv do done

first destroys the existing file done, then renames the file do as done.

Because of the way mv operates, you should be very cautious when using it to move large files, such as .isos If you change your mind and interrupt or abort mv while it is in process, you will have no output file and no input file either. The first thing it does is remove the filename from the directory tree, to prevent other apps accessing the file while it is being moved. If it is abruptly terminated, it does not get to reinstate the file in the directory tree. Always let mv complete what it is doing. Then you can undo it afterwards.

Answer 3

the mv command would change the name of the file "do" to "done", as mv is a command that is used to change the name of a file.