Question

Which option is used with mv command so that the destination file does not get overwritten?

(a) -n

(b) -f

(c) -b

(d) -i

I got this question in final exam.

Enquiry is from Deleting and Renaming files: rm and mv Command in division Handling Ordinary Files of Unix

Answer 1

Correct option is (a) -n

For explanation I would say: If the destination file already exists in mv command then it will be overwritten which can be harmful. To avoid this we use -n option with mv so that the destination file does not get overwritten. -i option displays interactive messages and asks the user before overwriting the destination file.