FALSE(1)

📦
version 9.10 · 5 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💀 FALSE(1) — girl help, this page is literally in the User Commands section of the manual

okay bestie sit DOWN because we are talking about false, aka the most unbothered icon in all of coreutils. she does nothing. she fails. that's the whole personality. no notes. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

false — do nothing, unsuccessfully 💅

like. genuinely. that's her job. she fails on purpose. it's giving method acting, it's giving commitment to the bit, it's giving the most reliable utility on your entire system and she's not even trying.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

false [ignored command line arguments]
false OPTION

yes you read that right. the command line arguments are ignored. you can hand her anything you want. she does not care. she is not listening. she's in her own lane. 🦋

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

Exit with a status code indicating failure.

that's it. that's the whole man page. she exits, and the exit status says "nope." she is the failure signal. she is the ✨no✨ in a world of yeses. and honestly? iconic.

  • --help — display this help and exit (yes, even her help is a way out, and yes, asking for help is still a whole vibe)
  • --version — output version information and exit
🫶 heads up bestie: your shell may have its own version of false, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports. so like, if she's acting different from what this page says, that's not her, that's your shell's builtin version putting on a costume. check with your shell. iykyk.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Jim Meyering. legend behaviour, honestly. thank you for your service sir. 🫡

😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

found a bug? bestie. in false? tell the people:

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Packaged by Ubuntu (9.10-1ubuntu2) Copyright © 2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

okay so that's the legal bit and it is VERY serious: no warranty, bestie, to the extent permitted by law. free software means you get to change it and redistribute it and she won't stop you, she'd never. but if it breaks? that's on you, that's the vibe of GPLv3+. 🧚

and that's the page!! this whole thing is GNU coreutils 9.10, dated August 2026, straight out of the FALSE(1) corner of your local manual. she fails, she's free, she's been failing flawlessly since forever. periodt. 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from