pls

FAQ

Here are some questions about pls that I assume would come up pretty frequently and the answers to those questions.

Is this a replacement for ls?

No. pls is a separate tool for prettier output intended for human consumption.

  • pls has a very different API compared to ls. It has fewer but easy to memorize options.
  • pls focuses heavily on the making the output human-readable, making it a bad fit for scripting.

We recommend keeping ls around. ls is a tried, tested and trusted tool with lots of features.

Why does this even exist then?

If your work involves writing code, you are most likely working in IDEs or in the terminal. IDEs do all sorts of optimisations to help you see your files clearly and find them faster. ls does none of these.

pls aims to be the closest thing to an IDE-like file panel inside a terminal.

Does pls support Windows?

Yes, with caveats.

pls runs on Windows with a reduced feature set but that is largely a result of Windows being an inferior operating-system. To experience the true power of CLI, we recommend using a POSIX-compatible OS like Linux or macOS.

Why Python and not <lang>?

Because Python is awesome. No seriously, here are some arguments in favour of Python.

  • pls runs directly from source making it easy to modify and debug locally.
  • pls be installed universally without having to ship binaries for different platforms.
  • The codebase is easy to navigate, understand and contribute to by beginners and experts alike.
  • High-level languages like Python facilitate rapid prototyping of new features. The REPL is powerful.
  • Python has a huge, mature library of packages in PyPI. Notably, pls uses Richopen in new window.

If pls becomes the ls-replacement with the most GitHub stars, I'll consider rewriting it in Rust 😉.