July 15, 2026
ls, but make it dramatic
Show HN: 18KB ls alternative in no_std rust and Libc
Tiny file tool drops emojis on boring folders, and the comments instantly start a size war
TLDR: A developer built a tiny file-listing app that uses emojis to make folders and files easier to spot, especially on a Raspberry Pi, and says it’s small and fast. Commenters liked the idea but instantly argued over whether Python would’ve been simpler and whether BusyBox still wins the tiny-tool crown.
A developer rolled into Hacker News with fli, a super-small file-listing tool meant to make directory browsing easier over a tiny Raspberry Pi connection. The pitch is delightfully simple: instead of squinting at colors, you get clear little symbols like 📄 for files and 🗂️ for folders, all packed into a tiny binary that can be as small as 18KB on a Pi Zero. It also claims to beat the usual file lister on speed in the creator’s early tests, which is exactly the kind of flex that wakes up the comments section.
And yes, the community immediately did what the community always does: turn a cute utility into a philosophical showdown. One commenter hit the project with the classic “but couldn’t this just be a Python script?” energy, basically asking why summon Rust wizardry for something emojis and a few file checks could handle. That’s the practical camp: if the goal is readability, why not use the easier hammer already sitting in the toolbox?
But the real drama came from the binary-size Olympics. Another commenter showed up with receipts, comparing regular ls, BusyBox, and even Plan 9’s version, turning the thread into a nerdy episode of Who Wore It Smallest? The subtext was delicious: sure, 18KB is tiny, but in file-tool land, someone always knows a smaller, older, weirder contender. So the vibe wasn’t “this is bad” at all — it was more “cute project, now enter the arena and defend your tiny crown.”
Key Points
- •fli is a directory-listing CLI tool designed to improve readability by using emojis or alternative file-type markers instead of relying only on color.
- •The project is implemented in no_std Rust with libc and uses unsafe code, aiming to reduce binary size compared with typical Rust builds.
- •The article reports binary sizes of 18 KB on Raspberry Pi Zero W and 51 KB on an Apple M-series Mac.
- •fli supports short and long listings, multiple sort options, reverse order, unsorted directory-order output, text markers, color output, and explicit path arguments.
- •Included benchmark results on a Mac with 20,000 empty files show several fli modes running faster than comparable ls commands, though the author says speed is not the primary focus and benchmarking needs improvement.