Is mv the only command that we can use to move files/folders?

Question

Is mv the only command that we can use to move files/folders on Ubuntu 20.04?

Answer 1

The way the mv tool is programmed to move a file is to leave the file's inode unchanged (unless the file is being moved to a different filesystem) and preserve its ownership and permissions. Other tools provide different options. The cp command, unlike mv, creates a brand new data object in your filesystem that has a new inode location.

You can mimic a move without mv using the built-in cp and rm commands:

cp example/foo .
ls -l -G -g --inode
7476869 -rwxrwxr-x. 29545 Aug  2 11:58 foo
rm example/foo

_{Source: Revised from Moving files on Linux without mv}

Answer 2

mv across file systems

• copy the file and remove original file.

For files:

cp source target && rm source

For directories:

cp -r source target && rm -rf source

---

mv to the same file system:

• create a new link to your inode and remove the original link.

So, you can mimic a move on the same file system with ln && rm:

ln source target && rm source

However, this only works for files.
To move a directory recursively, you could make a small script/function:

#!/bin/bash
lmv()(

  set -eu

  s="$1"
  t="$2"

  if [ -f "$s" ]; then
    printf '%s -> %s\n' "$s" "$t"
    ln "$s" "$t"
    rm "$s"
  elif [ -d "$s" ]; then
    printf '%s -> %s\n' "$s" "$t"
    mkdir "$t"
    shopt -s dotglob
    for e in "$s"/*; do
      lmv "$e" "$t/${e##*/}"
    done
    rmdir "$s"
  else
    >&2 printf 'No file or directory: %s\n' "$s"
    exit 1
  fi
)

Usage:

lmv source target

(Note: this script is just a prove of concept and there is stuff missing, e.g. multiple sources or preserve owner and permissions, etc.)