To show what kind of file it is, which command should be used?

The command that effectively determines the type of a file in a Linux environment is 'file.' When you use this command followed by a filename, it analyzes the file's content and returns a description of its type, such as whether it's a text file, an executable, a directory, or any other type of file. This is particularly useful because it examines the actual data within the file rather than relying solely on the file extension, which may not always accurately reflect the file type.

The 'identify' command does not exist in standard Linux distributions for file type determination; it might be confused with a command from other contexts, like ImageMagick's 'identify' for image files. The 'stat' command provides information about a file’s attributes, like size, permissions, and modification dates, but it doesn't specify the file type. The 'ls -F' command lists files and can append characters (like '/' for directories and '*' for executables) to indicate the type visually, but it does not explicitly state the type as the 'file' command does. Hence, 'file' is the most accurate choice for determining the kind of file.