dust: Instant overview of which directories are using disk space

Dust is a tool that provides users with an immediate overview of how disk space is being utilized by directories on a system. It offers a visual representation of disk usage, making it easy to identify which directories are consuming the most space.

Here are the key features and aspects of Dust:

  • Disk space visualization: Dust presents a visual representation of disk space usage, allowing users to quickly understand how space is allocated across directories. It uses color-coded rectangles or squares to represent directories, with larger shapes indicating more disk space usage.
  • Intuitive interface: Dust provides a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of analyzing disk space. The visual representation allows users to easily navigate and identify directories that are occupying significant disk space, helping them identify areas where storage optimization or cleanup may be necessary.
  • Recursive scanning: Dust recursively scans directories, analyzing the disk space utilization at each level. This comprehensive scanning approach ensures that users gain insights into the space consumption of both parent directories and their subdirectories.
  • Sorting and filtering options: Dust allows users to sort directories based on various criteria, such as size or file count. This sorting capability assists in identifying the largest directories or directories with the most files, aiding in identifying storage-intensive areas. Additionally, filtering options enable users to focus on specific directories or file types for closer inspection.
  • Interactive navigation: Dust enables users to navigate through directories and explore disk usage interactively. Users can drill down into subdirectories to gain a detailed understanding of their disk space usage. This interactive navigation helps users pinpoint the specific areas contributing to high disk usage.
  • Command-line interface: Dust is primarily operated through the command-line interface, providing a lightweight and efficient solution for disk space analysis. This makes it suitable for use in terminal environments and automation tasks.
  • Platform compatibility: Dust is designed to be compatible with various operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows. This cross-platform compatibility ensures that users can benefit from its disk space visualization capabilities regardless of their chosen operating system.

Dust is a useful tool for gaining insights into disk space usage, allowing users to quickly identify directories that are consuming a significant amount of storage. With its visual representation and interactive navigation, it simplifies the process of identifying storage-intensive areas and aids in optimizing disk space utilization.

Please note that Dust may have specific command-line options and configuration settings that can be explored through the tool’s documentation or by using the built-in help command (e.g., “dust –help”).

dust Command Examples

1. Display information for the current directory:

# dust

2. Display information for a space-separated list of directories:

# dust /path/to/directory1 /path/to/directory2

3. Display 30 directories (defaults to 21):

# dust --number-of-lines 30

4. Display information for the current directory, up to 3 levels deep:

# dust --depth 3

5. Display the biggest directories at the top in descending order:

# dust --reverse

6. Ignore all files and directories with a specific name:

# dust --ignore-directory file_or_directory_name

7. Do not display percent bars and percentages:

# dust --no-percent-bars
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