(Why) is it bad to use ls -A to list hidden files?

Question

I want to list every file, including hidden files, in the current directory. I don't want to include the parent (..) and current (.) directory.

I found this:

how to glob every hidden file except current and parent directory

At the end, someone states ls -A is the way to go, but it's downvoted. However, it seems to work. What's wrong with ls -A?

ls -A is the correct answer to your question, but not to the question you linked to (that question was about listing only hidden files and directories). — angus, Oct 25 '14 at 12:57
I want to know if this is supported everywhere or if there is a better way of doing what I want to achieve. — Smile4ever, Oct 25 '14 at 12:57
in fact, as of the latest version of the POSIX-spec, ls -A is an officially specified option. — mikeserv, Oct 25 '14 at 15:16

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 25 '14 at 13:00

21

ls -A is the correct answer to your question, but not to the question you linked to (that question was about listing only hidden files and directories).

answered Oct 25 '14 at 13:00

angus

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More precise is that question is about globbing, hidden files and directories with the exclusion of . and .., not about listing. Listing only those globbed entries is not the same as doing ls -A, but this should be close enough for the OP. – Anthon Oct 25 '14 at 13:03

(Why) is it bad to use ls -A to list hidden files?

1 Answers1