Product SiteDocumentation Site

4.17. less

The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but with more capabilities ("less is more"). The less utility allows users to move backwards in the file as well as forwards. Because less need not read the entire input file before it starts, less starts up more quickly than text editors (vi, for example).

Note: This documentation is provided {and copyrighted} by Red Hat®, Inc. and is released via the Open Publication License. The copyright holder has added the further requirement that Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. The CentOS project redistributes these original works (in their unmodified form) as a reference for CentOS-5 because CentOS-5 is built from publicly available, open source SRPMS. The documentation is unmodified to be compliant with upstream distribution policy. Neither CentOS-5 nor the CentOS Project are in any way affiliated with or sponsored by Red Hat®, Inc.