# Chapter 8. Directories and Files

#### Contents:

Everything but the find Command
The Three Unix File Times
Finding Oldest or Newest Files with ls -t and ls -u
List All Subdirectories with ls -R
The ls -d Option
Color ls
Some GNU ls Features
A csh Alias to List Recently Changed Files
Showing Hidden Files with ls -A and -a
Useful ls Aliases
Can't Access a File? Look for Spaces in the Name
Showing Nonprintable Characters in Filenames
Counting Files by Types
Listing Files by Age and Size
newer: Print the Name of the Newest File
oldlinks: Find Unconnected Symbolic Links
Picking a Unique Filename Automatically

## 8.1. Everything but the find Command

A computer isn't that much different from a house or an office; unless you're incredibly orderly, you spend a lot of time looking for things that you've misplaced. Even if you are incredibly orderly, you still spend some time looking for things you need -- you just have a better idea of where to find them. After all, librarians don't memorize the location of every book in the stacks, but they do know how to find any book, quickly and efficiently, using whatever tools are available. A key to becoming a proficient user of any system, then, is knowing how to find things.

This chapter is about how to find things. We're excluding the find (Section 9.1) utility itself because it's complicated and deserves a chapter of its own. We'll concentrate on simpler ways to find files, beginning with some different ways to use ls.

Well, okay, towards the end of the chapter we'll touch on a few simple uses of find, but to really get into find, take a peek at Chapter 9.

-- ML

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