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    ls was already there in Unix version 1 from 1970. Commented Aug 26, 2023 at 16:40
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    For comparison, GNU ls is from GNU fileutils (since merged with textutils, shellutils... into coreutils) whose version 1.0 was released in 1990. BSD would have rewritten their ls to affranchise themselves from AT&T code circa 1989. Commented Aug 26, 2023 at 17:31
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    Research Unix history is well documented, you'll find manual and code (maybe not all for V1 and that would be in PDP11 assembler, pre-C) online. Even wikipedia has a list of commands for V1. There's even a well know anecdote about V1 ls: the fact that files with names starting with . being hidden (in ls initially but that later spread and became a feature) was because of a bug in ls trying to hide only . and .. (from memory, I might have the details wrong). Commented Aug 28, 2023 at 16:05
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    See v1 ls code, with all files with name starting with a . hidden likely at line 120 Commented Aug 28, 2023 at 16:13
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    Looks like even PDP7 Unix (1969, precursor) may have had a ls command. Commented Aug 28, 2023 at 16:19