Instead of ls: eza

Why eza is better

• It shows each file's Git status with --git, so you can see what is modified without running git status.
• --tree replaces a separate tree command for nested listings.
• Colours distinguish file types and metadata, and it understands symlinks and extended attributes.
• It has hyperlink support, human-readable relative dates and an optional theme file for colours and icons.

When to keep ls

Keep ls in scripts and on servers you do not control. ls is part of every Unix system, its flags are standard, and parsing scripts depend on its output format.

Switching

Install eza and alias ls to it if you like. Its options are similar to ls but not identical, so check your habits. eza -l, -a and --tree work as expected, while some ls flags differ. The optional icons need a patched font. If you used exa, eza accepts the same commands and fixes bugs exa never got.

Watch out

eza is licensed under EUPL-1.2, which matters only if you redistribute modified versions. It is a community fork maintained by volunteers. Its output is for people, so do not parse it in scripts.

Also worth a look

• lsd Another colourful ls replacement that keeps closer to ls's own flags; pick it if you want aliasing ls to be less of a change.

More newer, better command-line tools

• grep →, use ripgrep
• find →, use fd
• cat →, use bat
• cd →, use zoxide
• du →, use dust
• diff →, use delta
• sed →, use sd
• curl →, use xh
• htop →, use btop
• Make →, use just
• man pages →, use tldr pages