Effect of slash (/) suffixes on symlink names for `ls` with the `-F` option

By way of example, I have a directory structure like this: $ \ls -F dir/ lnk@ $ \ls -F dir FILE $ \ls -l lnk lrwxrwxrwx 1 user group d Mon hh:mm lnk -> dir My ls command is aliased. I am using \ls to get standard behavior (I think).

The question is

When using the -F option with ls, why does appending a slash to the symlink name affect the behavior of ls? $ \ls -F lnk lnk@ \ls -F lnk/ FILE Without the /, the symlink itself is listed with an @ indicator/flag/classifier; with the /, the files in the directory that the symlink references are listed with indicators (FILE is a regular file). I'm not sure whether to call the behavior with no options consistent or inconsistent: $ \ls lnk FILE \ls lnk/ FILE I am not finding an explanation for this in man ls. Similar Posts ------------- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/425029/using-ls-command-with-symbolic-links https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/315461/show-contents-of-symbolic-link References ---------- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/29769/trailing-slashes-on-symbolic-links-to-directories The IEEE and the Open Group (2004) "Pathname Resolution" [subsection 4.11](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap04.html#tag_04_11) in _The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6_ The IEEE and the Open Group (2018a) "Pathname Resolution" [subsection 4.13](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap04.html) in _The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7_ The IEEE and the Open Group (2018b) "[ls](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/ls.html) "