So I was messing around with my terminal, trying to get a better handle on listing files. You know, the basic ls command? Turns out, there’s a ton more to it than I thought. I mean, everyone knows ls, but “best ls”? That’s a whole different ballgame.
I started out just typing ls, like always. Boom, list of files, no big deal. But my directories are a mess, so I needed more. First thing I tried was ls -l. This gives you that long listing format, with all the permissions and dates and stuff. Super useful for, like, checking if something’s executable or when it was last modified.
Then I remembered ls -a. The “a” is for “all,” and man, it shows everything. All those hidden files and directories that start with a dot? Yep, they’re all there. I was actually kind of surprised how much junk was hiding in my home directory.
Okay, so far, so good. But I wanted more organization. I stumbled upon ls -t, which sorts the files by modification time, newest first. This is perfect for when you’re working on a project and just want to see the files you recently touched. No more scrolling through a giant list!
Combine these things – that’s where the real power shows
for example the command below:
- ls -l -a -t
Putting It All Together
After playing around with all these options, I think my “best ls” is actually a combination: ls -lat. I usually shorten it just like that. It’s got the long listing format, shows all the hidden files, and sorts by modification time. I’ve even made it an alias in my .bashrc file so I can just type la and get the same result. Makes my life so much easier.
Oh, and one more thing! I found out about ls -lh. The “h” is for “human-readable.” Instead of showing file sizes in bytes, it uses K, M, G, etc. Much easier to understand at a glance. So, sometimes I use ls -lha instead. Depends on what I’m looking for.
So yeah, that’s my journey to finding the “best ls.” It’s not one single command, but a few variations I use depending on the situation. It’s all about knowing your options and picking the right tool for the job. Go forth and list your files like a pro!
