Below we see output of the ls command when listing a directory. The –color=auto parameter allows the use of color if your terminal supports it. And since everyone either uses Konsole or Gnome Terminal; this command will always work. I am using zsh at the moment; but this works with just about any shell.
ls -hula --color=auto total 90M drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K 26-03-13 10:31 pm . drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 4.0K 26-03-13 12:47 pm .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 918K 25-03-13 12:00 pm abi-3.9.0-030900rc4-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 132K 25-03-13 12:04 pm config-3.2.0-2-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 132K 25-03-13 12:04 pm config-3.2.0-3-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 132K 25-03-13 12:04 pm config-3.2.0-4-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 131K 25-03-13 12:04 pm config-3.2.0-4-rt-686-pae -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 159K 25-03-13 12:04 pm config-3.9.0-030900rc4-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 601 18-10-12 10:02 am config-9.0-1-486 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 8.0K 25-03-13 12:21 pm grub -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8.5M 29-06-12 03:50 pm initrd.img-3.2.0-2-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12M 26-01-13 11:19 pm initrd.img-3.2.0-3-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12M 25-02-13 04:03 pm initrd.img-3.2.0-4-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12M 18-03-13 09:30 pm initrd.img-3.2.0-4-rt-686-pae -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13M 25-03-13 12:05 pm initrd.img-3.9.0-030900rc4-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.8M 26-01-13 02:12 pm initrd.img-9.0-1-486 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 42 16-01-13 11:59 am iso drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 36 16-01-13 11:59 am kernel -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.9M 18-10-12 10:02 am kfreebsd-9.0-1-486.gz -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.5M 22-08-12 03:32 pm System.map-3.2.0-2-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.5M 29-10-12 11:44 am System.map-3.2.0-3-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.5M 11-02-13 10:44 am System.map-3.2.0-4-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.6M 26-02-13 11:53 am System.map-3.2.0-4-rt-686-pae -rw------- 1 root root 2.5M 25-03-13 12:00 pm System.map-3.9.0-030900rc4-generic -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.4M 05-03-12 03:08 pm vmlinuz-3.2.0-2-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.4M 26-01-13 11:19 pm vmlinuz-3.2.0-3-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.4M 25-02-13 04:03 pm vmlinuz-3.2.0-4-486 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.6M 18-03-13 09:30 pm vmlinuz-3.2.0-4-rt-686-pae -rw------- 1 root root 5.3M 25-03-13 12:00 pm vmlinuz-3.9.0-030900rc4-generic |
I know you can not see the colors in this code listing; but this also works with the tclsh shell on Debian.
ls -hula --color=auto total 248K drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 97 26-03-13 10:00 pm . drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 4.0K 26-03-13 12:47 pm .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 68K 26-03-13 12:58 pm bin drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 26-03-13 10:27 pm games drwxr-xr-x 51 root root 8.0K 26-03-13 10:02 pm include drwxr-xr-x 262 root root 56K 26-03-13 09:35 pm lib drwxrwsr-x 10 root staff 105 26-03-13 10:02 pm local drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 8.0K 26-03-13 10:02 pm sbin drwxr-xr-x 437 root root 12K 26-03-13 01:20 pm share drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4.0K 26-03-13 10:00 pm src |
And this is a good way to force the width of the ls output. This is useful sometimes when you do not want a full width ls output.
ls -w 80 awesome.jpg dwhelper Music Pash root.jpeg vol_1.list Desktop kernel My Downloads Pictures Templates xterm1.jpg Documents lc MySQL Proliant test xterm2.jpg Downloads Mail out3 Public Videos |
How to list only directories and symlinks that lead to directories with the Linux shell. This is accomplished with the command below.
ls -ld *(-/DN) drwx------ 3 john john 25 16-03-13 12:16 am .adobe drwx------ 2 john john 31 16-03-13 12:16 am .aptitude drwxr-xr-x 25 john john 4.0K 16-03-13 12:16 am .cache drwxr-xr-x 41 john john 4.0K 24-03-13 08:08 pm .config drwx------ 3 john john 24 30-12-12 01:25 am .dbus drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:17 pm Desktop drwxr-xr-x 5 john john 111 30-12-12 01:18 am .dia drwxr-xr-x 7 john john 8.0K 26-03-13 10:05 pm Documents drwxr-xr-x 21 john john 8.0K 26-03-13 10:16 pm Downloads drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:17 pm dwhelper drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 14 30-12-12 01:18 am .e drwx------ 3 john john 27 30-12-12 01:25 am .emacs.d drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 19 16-03-13 12:16 am .Eterm drwx------ 2 john john 4.0K 30-12-12 01:25 am .filezilla drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 4.0K 30-12-12 01:18 am .fontconfig drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 4.0K 30-12-12 01:18 am .fvwm drwx------ 4 john john 31 26-03-13 10:23 pm .gconf drwx------ 4 john john 32 30-12-12 01:25 am .gegl-0.0 drwxr-xr-x 22 john john 4.0K 30-12-12 01:18 am .gimp-2.6 drwx------ 6 john john 72 30-12-12 01:25 am .gnome2 drwx------ 2 john john 6 30-12-12 01:25 am .gnome2_private drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 30 30-12-12 01:18 am .gstreamer-0.10 drwx------ 2 john john 6 26-03-13 09:37 pm .gvfs drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 21 30-12-12 01:18 am .icedtea drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 18 25-02-13 01:32 pm .icewm drwxr-xr-x 9 john john 4.0K 30-12-12 01:18 am .jedit drwx------ 3 john john 89 30-12-12 01:25 am .kde drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:02 pm kernel drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 14 30-12-12 01:18 am .libreoffice drwx------ 2 john john 43 30-12-12 01:25 am .links2 drwxr-xr-x 4 john john 41 30-12-12 01:18 am .linuxmint drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 18 25-02-13 02:14 pm .local drwx------ 3 john john 25 30-12-12 01:25 am .macromedia drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 19 26-03-13 10:17 pm Mail drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 19 25-02-13 02:14 pm .mate2 drwx------ 3 john john 21 30-12-12 01:25 am .mission-control drwx------ 3 john john 95 30-12-12 01:25 am .moc drwxr-xr-x 4 john john 64 25-02-13 02:14 pm .mozilla drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 34 30-12-12 01:18 am .mplayer drwxr-xr-x 7 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 09:38 pm Music lrwxrwxrwx 1 john john 10 26-03-13 09:38 pm My Downloads -> Downloads/ drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 29 26-03-13 10:15 pm MySQL drwx------ 20 john john 4.0K 25-03-13 01:19 pm .opera drwxr-xr-x 7 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:15 pm Pash drwxr-xr-x 4 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 09:38 pm Pictures drwx------ 3 john john 18 30-12-12 01:25 am .pki drwx------ 2 john john 41 30-12-12 01:25 am .prboom drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 152 26-03-13 10:18 pm Proliant drwxr-xr-x 3 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:15 pm Public drwx------ 2 john john 4.0K 25-02-13 02:29 pm .pulse drwxr-xr-x 4 john john 30 07-03-13 03:09 pm .shotwell drwx------ 2 john john 24 19-03-13 10:09 pm .ssh drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 6 26-03-13 10:15 pm Templates drwx------ 5 john john 42 30-12-12 01:25 am .thumbnails drwx------ 4 john john 68 30-12-12 01:25 am .thunderbird drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 4.0K 26-03-13 10:15 pm Videos drwxr-xr-x 2 john john 39 30-12-12 01:18 am .wireshark drwxr-xr-x 4 john john 52 25-03-13 11:50 am .yudit |
This command will list all of the terminals and consoles that you are currently logged in at.
finger -lmps $LOGNAME | sed -e "s/On/Logged in/g" | grep "since" Logged in since Tue Mar 26 22:10 (EST) on tty2 1 hour 44 minutes idle Logged in since Tue Mar 26 21:51 (EST) on tty3 1 hour 44 minutes idle Logged in since Tue Mar 26 22:32 (EST) on pts/0 from :0 Logged in since Tue Mar 26 22:32 (EST) on pts/1 from :0 |
This useful BASH command will list all processes that do not belong to you.
ps uax | sort | sed -e 's/-[0-9].*$//' | uniq -c | grep -v '${LOGNAME}' |
Getting back to ls; this is how to output the directory listings in all uppercase. This might be useful if you pine for the days of IBM DOS…
ls | tr a-z A-Z TOTAL 0 DRWXRWSR-X 10 ROOT STAFF 105 26-03-13 10:02 PM . DRWXR-XR-X 10 ROOT ROOT 97 26-03-13 10:00 PM .. DRWXR-XR-X 2 ROOT ROOT 95 26-03-13 10:23 PM BIN DRWXRWSR-X 2 ROOT STAFF 6 26-03-13 10:02 PM ETC DRWXRWSR-X 2 ROOT STAFF 6 26-03-13 10:27 PM GAMES DRWXRWSR-X 2 ROOT STAFF 6 30-12-12 01:19 AM INCLUDE DRWXRWSR-X 6 ROOT STAFF 70 26-03-13 10:02 PM LIB LRWXRWXRWX 1 ROOT STAFF 9 26-03-13 12:57 PM MAN -> SHARE/MAN DRWXRWSR-X 2 ROOT STAFF 39 26-03-13 10:02 PM SBIN DRWXRWSR-X 12 ROOT STAFF 130 24-03-13 07:23 PM SHARE DRWXRWSR-X 2 ROOT STAFF 6 30-12-12 01:19 AM SRC |
The –color=auto output even works with the most basic sh shell. But you need a terminal that can display color obviously. If you are using an old VT100 then the display might not be more than one color.
ls -hula --color=auto total 3.9M drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 105 26-03-13 11:37 pm . drwxr-xr-x 437 root root 12K 26-03-13 01:20 pm .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.8M 29-10-12 10:02 am albatross-wall-source.svg -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 97K 29-10-12 10:02 am bluebird.svg -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.0M 29-10-12 10:02 am greybird.svg drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 44 30-12-12 01:20 am joy drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 44 30-12-12 01:20 am joy_inksplat |
The /bin/sh shell is not much fun to use though, better to use the bash or zsh shells instead. Even csh or tcsh are better.