Current locale address@hidden ~]$ locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8" LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8" LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8" LC_PAPER="en_US.UTF-8" LC_NAME="en_US.UTF-8" LC_ADDRESS="en_US.UTF-8" LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.UTF-8" LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.UTF-8" LC_ALL= Current files in /tmp directory address@hidden ~]$ ls -asl /tmp total 52 4 drwxrwxrwt. 8 root root 4096 Nov 23 10:56 . 4 dr-xr-xr-x. 26 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:06 .. 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:06 orbit-gdm 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 .tc3 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 .tc4 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .X11-unix address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$ locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8" LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8" LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8" LC_PAPER="en_US.UTF-8" LC_NAME="en_US.UTF-8" LC_ADDRESS="en_US.UTF-8" LC_TELEPHONE="en_US.UTF-8" LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US.UTF-8" LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US.UTF-8" LC_ALL= address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl /tmp |sort -k11 -k7M -k8n -k9,10 total 44 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 .tc4 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 .tc3 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .X11-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:06 orbit-gdm address@hidden ~]$ Sort by filename and then by time. Incorrect as all the dot files are not sorted together as one would expect address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl /tmp |sort -k10 -k7M -k8n -k9 total 44 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:06 orbit-gdm 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 .tc3 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 .tc4 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .X11-unix Test to see if the MM:SS field is treated as one field address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl /tmp |sort -k7M -k8n -k9,10 total 44 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 .tc4 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 .tc3 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .X11-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:06 orbit-gdm address@hidden ~]$ Test to see if Time is treated as two fields. Test for sorting by time ==> Correct (Nolte filename excluded) address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl /tmp |sort -k11 -k7M -k8n -k9,10 total 44 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 .tc4 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 .tc3 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 .X11-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 Nov 19 16:06 orbit-gdm address@hidden ~]$ Same sort but with the filename included. Note It's incorrect address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl --time-style=long-iso /tmp | env LC_ALL=C sort -k9,9 -k7,8 total 44 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 2012-11-19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 .X11-unix 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 2012-11-09 17:39 .esd-500 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:18 .tc3 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:15 .tc4 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 2012-11-19 16:06 orbit-gdm 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 2012-11-09 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg address@hidden ~]$ Incorrect .tc3 is listed before .tc4. Since .tc4 should be listed before .tc3 address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$ ls -Asl --time-style=long-iso /tmp | sort -k9,9 -k7,8 total 44 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 2012-11-09 17:39 .esd-500 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 .ICE-unix 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 2012-11-19 16:06 orbit-gdm 4 drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 2012-11-09 17:39 pulse-g9SlRO3UEqGg 4 drwx------. 2 gdm gdm 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 pulse-Jkx9hhtHj4dy 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:14 .tc 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:14 .tc2 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:18 .tc3 4 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 2012-11-16 18:15 .tc4 4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 2012-11-19 16:05 .X0-lock 4 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 2012-11-19 16:05 .X11-unix address@hidden ~]$ Same command but with out env LC_ALL as part of the command address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$ ls -Ald /tmp/.[!.]* drwx------. 2 WFUser WFUser 4096 Nov 9 17:39 /tmp/.esd-500 drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 /tmp/.ICE-unix -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 /tmp/.tc -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:14 /tmp/.tc2 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:18 /tmp/.tc3 -rw-rw-r--. 1 WFUser WFUser 5 Nov 16 18:15 /tmp/.tc4 -r--r--r--. 1 root root 11 Nov 19 16:05 /tmp/.X0-lock drwxrwxrwt. 2 root root 4096 Nov 19 16:05 /tmp/.X11-unix address@hidden ~]$ address@hidden ~]$