The Linux ls command

Inside a folder you can list all the files that the folder contains using the ls command:

ls

If you add a folder name or path, it will print that folder's contents:

ls /bin

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ls accepts a lot of options. One of my favorite combinations is -al. Try it:

ls -al /bin

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Compared to the plain ls command, this returns much more information.

You have, from left to right:

• the file permissions (and if your system supports ACLs, you get an ACL flag as well)

• the number of links to that file

• the owner of the file

• the group of the file

• the file size in bytes

• the file's last modified datetime

• the file name

This set of data is generated by the l option. The a option instead also shows the hidden files.

Hidden files are files that start with a dot (.).