From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On 07/03/2026 13.39, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

I would guess you have a file which name begins with '-y'

you could try: find ~/Downloads -name "*html"
or you can: ls ~/Downloads | grep html$
--
//Aho
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:32:22 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

On 07/03/2026 13.39, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

I would guess you have a file which name begins with '-y'

you could try: find ~/Downloads -name "*html"
or you can: ls ~/Downloads | grep html$

or
ls -- *html
(but programs aren't obliged to recognize the '--' option
and POSIX doesn't mandate it for ls(1), so check before using)


or
ls ./*html
(which /does/ satisfy the POSIX requirements, and avoids
argument flag parsing by prefixing the filename expansion
values with a relative path based in the current directory)
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"
Not LLM output - I'm just like this.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:31:09 +0000, Lew Pitcher wrote:

On Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:32:22 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

On 07/03/2026 13.39, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

I would guess you have a file which name begins with '-y'

you could try: find ~/Downloads -name "*html"
or you can: ls ~/Downloads | grep html$

or
ls -- *html
(but programs aren't obliged to recognize the '--' option
and POSIX doesn't mandate it for ls(1), so check before using)

Oops, correction:
POSIX mandates that ls(1) "shall conform to XBD Utility Syntax
Guidelines", and Guideline 10 of those guidelines says that
"The first -- argument that is not an option-argument should
be accepted as a delimiter indicating the end of options."
So, I stand corrected in my caveat.

or
ls ./*html
(which /does/ satisfy the POSIX requirements, and avoids
argument flag parsing by prefixing the filename expansion
values with a relative path based in the current directory)

--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"
Not LLM output - I'm just like this.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sat, 7 Mar 2026 20:39:27 +0800, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like ls -rtl *pdf works as expected, but if I try ls -rtl *html or dir *html I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

Both forms work for me and find two html files.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sat, 7 Mar 2026 20:39:27 +0800, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

Try

ls -rtl -- *html
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sat, 7 Mar 2026 16:31:09 -0000 (UTC), Lew Pitcher wrote:

(but programs aren't obliged to recognize the '--' option
and POSIX doesn't mandate it for ls(1), so check before using)

GNU supports it, and that’s all that matters. ;)
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

Lew Pitcher wrote:

On Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:32:22 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

On 07/03/2026 13.39, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

I would guess you have a file which name begins with '-y'

you could try: find ~/Downloads -name "*html"
or you can: ls ~/Downloads | grep html$

or
ls -- *html
(but programs aren't obliged to recognize the '--' option
and POSIX doesn't mandate it for ls(1), so check before using)

or
ls ./*html
(which /does/ satisfy the POSIX requirements, and avoids
argument flag parsing by prefixing the filename expansion
values with a relative path based in the current directory)

but I am typing single hyphen not two
This is under Debian, bash version 5.2.37
ls version 9.7
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

On Sun, 08 Mar 2026 09:41:33 +0800, Woozy Song wrote:

Lew Pitcher wrote:

On Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:32:22 +0100, J.O. Aho wrote:

On 07/03/2026 13.39, Woozy Song wrote:

in Downloads directory, I can type something like
ls -rtl *pdf
works as expected, but if I try
ls -rtl *html
or
dir *html
I get this error:

ls: invalid option -- 'y'
Try 'ls --help' for more information.

I would guess you have a file which name begins with '-y'

you could try: find ~/Downloads -name "*html"
or you can: ls ~/Downloads | grep html$

or
ls -- *html
(but programs aren't obliged to recognize the '--' option
and POSIX doesn't mandate it for ls(1), so check before using)


or
ls ./*html
(which /does/ satisfy the POSIX requirements, and avoids
argument flag parsing by prefixing the filename expansion
values with a relative path based in the current directory)

but I am typing single hyphen not two
This is under Debian, bash version 5.2.37
ls version 9.7

As others have already pointed out, you have a file that
matches the *html glob, and starts with "-y". Something
like
-you.html
or
-yhtml

Now, file globbing is done by the shell, before it invokes
the named program, so the shell expands your
ls -rtl *html
into something like
ls -rtl -you.html
and ls sees the leading -y of the first filename as an
invalid flag argument.

With
ls -rtl -- *html
the shell will still expand the command by file globbing,
but now into
ls -rtl -- -you.html
and ls sees the -- flag, and processes the arguments
following it as filenames

With
ls -rtl ./*html
the shell will still expand the command by file globbing,
but now into
ls -rtl ./you.html
and ls does /not/ see any flagged arguments after the -rtl,
and processes everything that follows as filenames

Does that answer the question?
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"
Not LLM output - I'm just like this.
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux

Woozy,

but I am typing single hyphen not two

We already know that what you are doing doesn't work, you do not have to
tell us again.

Have you alreadt tried one of the several suggestions to help you pin-point
/ show you where the problem is located ? If not, why ?

Pick one of the suggestions, follow it *to the letter* and post the
result(s).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser


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