I just noticed that eza can now display total disk space used by directories!
I think this is pretty cool. I wanted it for a long time.
There are other ways to get the information of course. But having it integrated with all the other options for listing directories is fab. eza has features like --git-awareness, --tree display, clickable --hyperlink, filetype --icons and other display, permissions, dates, ownerships, and other stuff. being able to mash everything together in any arbitrary way which is useful is handy. And of course you can --sort=size
docs:
--total-size show the size of a directory as the size of all
files and directories inside (unix only)
It also (optionally) color codes the information. Values measures in kb, mb, and gb are clear. Here is a screenshot to show that:
eza --long -h --total-size --sort=oldest --no-permissions --no-user
Of course it take a little while to load large directories so you will not want to use by default.
Looks like it was first implemented Oct 2023 with some fixes since then. (Changelog). PR #533 - feat: added recursive directory parser with `--total-size` flag by Xemptuous
If you are asking me, personally, it's because making any contributions to
lsis far beyond my capacities and will remain that way for the forseeable future.Personal deficiencies aside, would it even be a good idea to modify
lsin this way? It seems to me that stability and predictability is a feature, not a bug. Basically you know howlswill work on every linux system. Adding all these features would turn it into something else and potentially introduce chaos.lsis tested on >millions of systems in every context; a known quantity. A feature set which is limited to the necessities avoids introducing bugs, flaws, security issues etc.And once added, a feature probably shouldn't be removed. In 2024 I love having
gitstatus optionally integrated into myls-type tool. But in 2034 willgitstill be as ubiquitous? What about 2054?lsis for the ages.ezais for right now.