The find command uses arguments like:
-mtime -2
-mtime +2
-mtime 2
There are -ctime and -atime options as well. Since we now understand the differences among mtime, ctime, and atime, by understanding how find uses the -mtime option, the other two become understood as well. So I will describe find's use of the -mtime option.
As you probably know, the find command can run for minutes or hours depending on the size of the filesystem being searched. The find command makes a note of its own start time. It then looks at a file's mtime and computes how many seconds ago the file was modified. By dividing the seconds by 86,400 (and discarding any remainder), it can calculate the file's age in days:
Code:
0 days in seconds: 0 - 86399
1 day in seconds: 86400 - 172799
2 days in seconds: 172800 - 259159
