Re: ls: "Argument list too long"

[James Youngman]

On Sat, Feb 19, 2005 at 04:38:06AM -0500, James K Beard wrote:
> Gnu:  ls won't run if you have too many files in a directory.  Apparently 
> there is a fixed buffer for sorting and such that will allow only so many 
> characters in the total pathnames seen.  Better to ask for more memory or 
> shell to another way when buffer overflow occurs so that command does not 
> fail.

This is not a bug in ls, coreutils, or your shell.  This is a
Frequently Asked Question, and the coreutils FAQ document explains
what's happening.  Take a look at
http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/faq/coreutils-faq.html#Argument-list-too-long

(I found this document by searching Google for "coreutils argument
list too long").

James.