Subject: Re: bug#18051: 24.3.92; ls-lisp: Sorting; make ls-lisp-string-lessp a normal function?

From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:53:49 +0300

> From: Michael Heerdegen <[email-masked]>
> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 08:22:43 +0200
> 
> Some users will want to configure the sorting predicate used by ls-lisp,
> for example, to get a natural sorting of version numbers, or to sort in
> files whose names start with a dot as if they had no dot, etc.
> 
> Currently, sorting is even hardcoded because `ls-lisp-string-lessp' is a
> defsubst.  If it was a normal function, one could advice it.
> 
> Or, with some more efforts, sorting order could be made configurable via
> options, and the -v switch could be implemented.

ls-lisp emulates the Unix and GNU 'ls'.  So I will generally oppose to
introducing any option into it that cannot be had with an external
'ls' program, as long as the latter is the main method of getting a
Dired buffer.  (If Emacs ever decides that ls-lisp becomes the main
method, and will use it by default on all supported platforms, this
objection will no longer be valid, of course.)

An alternative to what you want would be a Dired-level feature, which
then will be available also to those who don't use ls-lisp.