MacOS iCloud File/Folder Size Discussion

[bpo217]

On MacOS du -hs * on an iCloud directory will show 0 bytes for some items. This happens because the system archives stuff to save local disk space when you haven't used something for an extended period of time.

I just wanted to open a discussion about if this should be the normal for dust.

On the one hand, if the primary goal is to exactly replace du this makes sense.
On the other hand, if the primary goal is to be a more modern du, then it does not.

Both ways are ok. I'm curious where everyone else stands and if it's worth modifying from a social standpoint. If that's true, then checking if the time, effort, and/or complexity is worth the modification.

Context

I ran eza with it's total size calculation flag in an iCloud directory. It lists the correct file sizes without downloading the file's content. I haven't checked in on any source code as to how it does this, but I stumbled on dust during new homebrew formulae research shanagins. I ran dust in a local directory and was delighted with the quality of this tool. I guess you could describe it as surprsied when I ran it on an iCloud directory and it showed similar size output to du.

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If I had a preference, I personally believe this should be the default. A flag is cool too.
Anyone else want to chime in?

[bootandy]

dust is designed to be similar to du, but not to replace it.

the primary goal is to be a more modern du

Yes This ^

I feel things like this are user dependent. I'm happy for you to run a poll of mac users if you'd like to and do what the majority say.

Personally I'd lean towards it showing 0 bytes, because I built this tool to answer the question "Where has my disk space gone?". But that's a mild preference and I'd be happy for it to run an ICloud calculation too.

[bpo217]

Personally I'd lean towards it showing 0 bytes, because I built this tool to answer the question "Where has my disk space gone?". But that's a mild preference and I'd be happy for it to run an ICloud calculation too.

Thanks for the response!

Since it's been a minute, no one else chimed in, what you expect as the creator, and my personal dislike for feature creep: I actually don't want to add this feature to Dust. It should be a separate tool since dynamic cloud directories regardless of their OS are in fact much different than the hardware's file system (I'm looking at it as a software abstraction for a could service). I would say that even in a hypothetical where this caught a bunch of traction down the line, I would advocate for creating a separate tool.

Thanks again for creating Dust!