Add Access CoreUtils That Conflict With Unix Utilities as a Mac TIL

2026-08-31 16:51:46 +00:00 · 2026-07-14 19:58:14 -05:00
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+# Access CoreUtils That Conflict With Unix Utilities
+
+In [another post about GNU CoreUtils](add-a-bunch-of-cli-utilities-with-coreutils.md) I explained how to
+install and use some of the provided utilities. The utilities I referenced were
+`seq` and `realpath` which are novel on MacOS. There are other CoreUtils that
+would conflict with existing system utilities. To avoid the conflicts, those
+utilities are installed with `g` prefix.
+
+A good example of this is `mv` and `gmv`. These are both utilities for moving
+files and largely behave the same. They are a few subtle differences though.
+
+Here is the manpage for the built-in `mv` utility:
+
+```
+NAME
+     mv – move files
+
+SYNOPSIS
+     mv [-f | -i | -n] [-hv] source target
+     mv [-f | -i | -n] [-v] source ... directory
+```
+
+And here is the manpage for `gmv`:
+
+```
+NAME
+       mv - move (rename) files
+
+SYNOPSIS
+       mv [OPTION]... [-T] SOURCE DEST
+       mv [OPTION]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
+       mv [OPTION]... -t DIRECTORY SOURCE...
+```
+
+There are some different forms and flags available. `gmv` for instance supports
+a `-t` flag which specifies the _target_ directory so that all other listed
+paths are treated as sources of the move. This makes `gmv` easier to use with
+`xargs`, for instance.
+
+Look through `fd '^g' /opt/homebrew/bin/` and you'll notice a bunch of them like
+`gls`, `gln`, `ghead`, `gwhoami`, `gyes`, etc. You can also look through all of
+them in the [`coreutils.json` homebrew formula](https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/coreutils.json).