How to use 'mv' command to move files except those in a specific directory?

Question

I am wondering - how can I move all the files in a directory except those files in a specific directory (as \'mv\' does not have a \'--exclude\' option)?

Answer 1

This isn't exactly what you asked for, but it might do the job:

mv the-folder-you-want-to-exclude somewhere-outside-of-the-main-tree
mv the-tree where-you-want-it
mv the-excluded-folder original-location

(Essentially, move the excluded folder out of the larger tree to be moved.)

So, if I have a/ and I want to exclude a/b/c/*:

mv a/b/c ../c
mv a final_destination
mkdir -p a/b
mv ../c a/b/c

Or something like that. Otherwise, you might be able to get find to help you.