Yes, ls does have a lot of flags, but how did it get them, and what are the alternatives? It got them to satisfy real needs, and using flags, especially when co

Yes, ls does have a lot of flags, but how did it get them, and what are the alternatives? It got them to satisfy real needs, and using flags, especially when combined with having man at your fingertips, was (and is) a highly effective interface for interactive work. If there is anything to be learned from the proliferation of command-line flags, it might be that one should not attribute too much significance to a vague aphorism such as "do one thing, and do it well."