Breif: If you were still using the ls command for listing files and directories on your Linux system, then it’s time to switch to the better alternative, the pls command.

The pls (prettier and more powerful) is a modern alternative to the ls command to list your files and directories. It outputs the data in a prettier and more powerful format for easy understanding.

The development of the application is actively focused on providing developers with developer-friendly features like showing icons next to file and folder names, 10 different attributes to sort files, classifying files by their priority, and many more.

However, it is not the replacement of the ls command and the ls command still stands ahead while using it in the scripts. Then why should you consider using the pls command? One thing will be presenting you with clean and faster directory content. The rest of the things you can find in the below features section.

Features

Below are the known features of the pls command.

• pls use a nuanced, cascading match algorithm
• Hand-picked icon codepoints for various file types
• It’s written in Python, so it runs everywhere
• Placing a .pls.yml file in the repo root enables you to tweak almost every functionality of the app
• pls can filter nodes in or out, by their types and by regex comparisons of their names
• pls can collapse or hide autogenerated files behind their handwritten counterparts to reduce clutter
• pls uses suffixes to depict the type of the node, such as / for directories and | for FIFO pipes

If you decide to install it, please make sure to check the below requirements section.

Requirements

To install pls, ensure you have the following application installed on your system:

• Python 3.8 or newer
• pip or pipx (depends upon your choice)

If the above requirement is not fulfilled, then follow the below methods to install it.

Python Installation with PIP or PIPX

Python 3.8 or newer must be installed on your system. However, if it is not installed, then run the following command to install it on your system.

$ sudo apt install python               #On Debian, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, LinuxMint
$ sudo dnf install python               #On RHEL, Fedora, AlmaLinux, CentOS
$ sudo pacman -Sy python                #On Arch, Manjaro

After that, you can follow any of the below-mentioned methods to install either pip or pipx.

Installing PIP for Python

First, grab the get-pip.py file and run it using the python command, as shown below.

$ python3 get-pip.py

It will install the latest Python package manager on your system.

Installing PIPX for Python using PIP

Ensure pip is installed on your system by executing the pip -v command. Once the installation is verified, use the following command to install pipx for Python using the pip command.

$ python3 -m pip install --user pipx
$ python3 -m pipx ensurepath

After the installation is complete, move to the next part of the installation of the pls package using the pip or pipx command.

Also read: Python PIP Complete guide

Installing pls Package

Once Python 3.8 or a newer version is installed on your system, there are two ways to install pls using the pipx (great tools for managing Python binaries) or the pip (used to manage Python packages).

With pipx

pipx is a great way to install Python packages globally while isolating them in a virtual environment. It makes it easier to upgrade and uninstall packages.

Note: While running the installation, if you find the error “The virtual environment was not created successfully because ensurepip is not available. On Debian/Ubuntu systems, you need to install the python3-venv package using the following command.” then install the python virtual environment package using the sudo apt install python3-venv command.

To install, pls use pipx using the following command.

$ pipx install pls

To update the pls to its latest release, use the following command.

$ pipx upgrade pls

Lastly, if you want to remove pls from your system, use the following command.

$ pipx uninstall pls

With pip

pip is a conventional method of installing and managing packages in Python. However, there is one drawback that it installs a lot of namespaces that will be left behind if the package is removed.

If you do not have any issues with that, then use the following command to install pls using the pip command.

$ pip install --user pls

Use the following command to update the pls to its latest version.

$ pip install --user --upgrade pls

Use the following command to uninstall pls from your system.

$ pip uninstall pls

Verifying

After the installation is complete, use the following command to verify the package is discoverable in your path.

$ pls --version
$ pls -v

If the package is not found, then reboot or log out of your system to reflect the changes.

Configuration and Settings

To make it more friendly, you can create a local configuration file in your home directory with the name .pls.yml, as shown below.

$ touch ~/.pls.yml

Then add your preferences settings within the configuration file for changes.

Icons

By default, the pls output will show you an undefined character set that can be easily changed to nerd, emoji or none. For example, to show emoji next to the file and directory, add the following snippet inside the .pls.yml file.

prefs:
  icon: emoji

Save and close the file, reload the terminal for the changes to reflect, and then run the pls command. You will get the following output.

Alternatively, you can use the CLI flag pls -i emoji to display icons without configuration change.

Multi-cols

Generally, the pls command shows the output in a single column, although you can change it into a multi-column by making a small configuration change. Edit the configuration file with the following snippet, save and close.

prefs:
  multi_cols: true

Below is the output of the above command.

Alternatively, you can use the CLI flag pls --multi-cols to display multi-column without configuration change.

List of Information

The standard output of the ls and pls commands is to list the content of the present directory without any extra information. However, you can provide additional flags to view the content information that can be done in the ls and pls commands.

Add the below snippet in the configuration file to list the content with an inode, links, type, perms, user, group, size, btime, ctime, mtime, atime, and git key.

prefs:
  details:
    - all

Below is the output of the above command.

Once you have included all the above snippets, your configuration file will look like the below:

However, this is not the end of the modification. By learning all the features from the documentation, you can go far and make more changes. So, we will hold it here and leave the rest of the changes and experiments to you.

Also read: exa: Next-gen listing command in Linux for pro

If you have any issues or trouble while following the documentation, then feel free to contact us.