mtime, atime, ctime

A more in-depth explanation is available HERE (www.unix.com tips and tutorials)

• mtime is modification time - the time the file's contents were last modified
• atime is access time - the time the file was last read
• ctime is inode change time - the time the inode was last changed (this happens any time the file's contents are changed, name is changed, permissions are changed, etc.)

/bin/ls

• ls -l displays mtime
• ls -lt sort files by mtime
• ls -lu displays atime
• ls -ltu sort files by atime
• ls -lc displays ctime
• ls -ltc sort files by ctime

If I am interested in this subject, I really recommend reading the www.unix.com "tips and tutorials" page linked to above.