Install eza with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• eza

Project history

The eza repository was created in 2023 by the eza-community organization and explicitly carries forward the design space of exa, while documenting fixes and additions not present in exa. Its README describes it as a more featureful and user-friendly alternative to `ls`, and calls out post-exa additions such as security fixes, hyperlink support, SELinux context output, mount point details, Git repository status output, relative dates, and a `theme.yml` customization file.

The first GitHub release under the eza name was v0.10.3 on July 31, 2023. Subsequent changelog entries show steady maintenance through 2024 and 2025, including man-page packaging, completions, build updates, and behavior fixes.

Adoption history

eza spread through the package-manager ecosystem quickly because it fit an existing command-line habit: users could alias or substitute a maintained `ls` replacement without changing file managers or shells. The project documents installation on Windows, macOS, and Linux and advertises packaging status across many repositories.

Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Nix, MacPorts, Scoop, winget, and other package-manager entries in the input all point to eza becoming the maintained successor for users who had previously tracked exa.

How it is used

Typical usage mirrors `ls` while adding richer defaults: grid and long listings, recursion, tree output, sorting, file-type coloring, icons, Git status, extended attributes, inode and link metadata, and custom timestamp formatting. Users often configure shell aliases such as `ls=eza` or use eza directly for tree-style directory inspection.

Configuration is intentionally small: the README documents `theme.yml` in `EZA_CONFIG_DIR` or `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/eza`, with environment variables such as `LS_COLORS` and `EXA_COLORS` still taking precedence for compatibility.

Why package nerds care

eza matters to package nerds because it is a visible example of a community-maintained fork replacing an unmaintained but popular CLI. It also sits in the classic package-manager sweet spot: tiny binary, obvious executable name, man pages, shell completions, cross-platform builds, and behavior close enough to a core Unix command to invite aliases and bikeshedding.

Its packaging footprint is also useful metadata: availability across Unix-like distributions, Homebrew, Nix, Scoop, and winget signals that a terminal nicety graduated into a broadly packaged default-choice tool.

Timeline

• 2023: eza-community/eza repository created.
• 2023: v0.10.3 published as the first GitHub release under the eza name.
• 2024: Man pages documented as available from installed packages as of v0.18.13.
• 2025: v0.23.x changelog entries show continued maintenance, completions, build refreshes, and behavior fixes.

Related projects

• exa is the direct predecessor and comparison point for eza.
• `ls` is the Unix command whose everyday role eza modernizes rather than replacing at the operating-system level.
• eza-themes is the official theme collection for users customizing colors and icons.

Sources

• https://github.com/eza-community/eza
• https://github.com/eza-community/eza/blob/main/README.md
• https://github.com/eza-community/eza/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
• https://api.github.com/repos/eza-community/eza
• https://api.github.com/repos/eza-community/eza/releases