ZSH `--color=auto` doesn't work

Question

For some reason when I execute the following:

ls --color=auto 

Results with:

ls: illegal option -- -
usage: ls [-ABCFGHLOPRSTUWabcdefghiklmnopqrstuwx1] [file ...]

Not sure why this is happening, I'm wondering if anyone else has had the same issue.

Answer 1

Depending on the OS, ls doesn't always have the functionalities.

There are two different versions of ls :

• One from the BSD world (for example Mac OS X version) :

The --color=auto doesn't work, use -G instead.

• One from the Free Software Foundation (Linux for example) :

You can use the --color=auto and the -G option does not list group.

By the way, this has nothing to do with zsh, except if you assign custom PATH in your .zshrc.

EDIT :

If you want the FSF version of ls, simply download the latest coreutils (8.4 now) and compile them.

This will allow you to use the this version.

Answer 2

What kind of system are you using? Solaris/BSD ls don't support --color.