Listing files in linux command line

Question

I am using fedora 17 in which i am using the command "ls" to list the files under the current directory as follows.

          [user@test test]# ls

Is there any way to list files in another directory without changing the current directory

I want something like this

         [user@test test]# /usr/lib/ then list the files.

Answer 1

I recommend ls --help as a starting point:

$ ls --help
Usage: ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default).
[...]

For more information have a look into the man pages, which are available for most of the linux commands. (man ls).

The answer to your specific question is astonishing simple, just use

ls /usr/lib

Answer 2

Have you tried

ls /usr/lib ?

Is there a reason why that doesn't work, or am I missing something?

Answer 3

use

ls /usr/lib

as suggested above you can start by using man as man ls it will give you explanation of many linux commands