Does less have a feature like tail --follow=name (-F)
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up vote
30
down vote
favorite
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The command less can be used to replace tail in
tail -f file
to provide features like handling binary output and navigating the scrollback:
less +F file
The + prefix means "pretend I type that after startup", and the key F starts following.
But can less also replace
tail --follow=name file
which follows file even if the actual file gets deleted or moved away, like a log file that is moved to file.log.1, and then a new file is created with the same name as the followed file?
tail less pager
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
add a comment |Â
up vote
30
down vote
favorite
6
The command less can be used to replace tail in
tail -f file
to provide features like handling binary output and navigating the scrollback:
less +F file
The + prefix means "pretend I type that after startup", and the key F starts following.
But can less also replace
tail --follow=name file
which follows file even if the actual file gets deleted or moved away, like a log file that is moved to file.log.1, and then a new file is created with the same name as the followed file?
tail less pager
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
1
You could try withless --follow-nameorless --follow-name +F
– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
@don_crissti Nice...less --follow-name +Fis it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page forfollow... strange. Make it an answer!
– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there ---follow-nameis described, but+Fis never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.
– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
If you came here because of a Google search forless follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to makelessfollow file changes!
– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27
add a comment |Â
up vote
30
down vote
favorite
6
up vote
30
down vote
favorite
6
6
The command less can be used to replace tail in
tail -f file
to provide features like handling binary output and navigating the scrollback:
less +F file
The + prefix means "pretend I type that after startup", and the key F starts following.
But can less also replace
tail --follow=name file
which follows file even if the actual file gets deleted or moved away, like a log file that is moved to file.log.1, and then a new file is created with the same name as the followed file?
tail less pager
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
The command less can be used to replace tail in
tail -f file
to provide features like handling binary output and navigating the scrollback:
less +F file
The + prefix means "pretend I type that after startup", and the key F starts following.
But can less also replace
tail --follow=name file
which follows file even if the actual file gets deleted or moved away, like a log file that is moved to file.log.1, and then a new file is created with the same name as the followed file?
tail less pager
tail less pager
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
edited Apr 14 '15 at 14:24
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
asked Apr 14 '15 at 14:15
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
10.3k33058
1
You could try withless --follow-nameorless --follow-name +F
– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
@don_crissti Nice...less --follow-name +Fis it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page forfollow... strange. Make it an answer!
– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there ---follow-nameis described, but+Fis never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.
– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
If you came here because of a Google search forless follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to makelessfollow file changes!
– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27
add a comment |Â
1
You could try withless --follow-nameorless --follow-name +F
– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
@don_crissti Nice...less --follow-name +Fis it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page forfollow... strange. Make it an answer!
– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there ---follow-nameis described, but+Fis never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.
– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
If you came here because of a Google search forless follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to makelessfollow file changes!
– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27
1
1
You could try with
less --follow-name or less --follow-name +F– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
You could try with
less --follow-name or less --follow-name +F– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
@don_crissti Nice...
less --follow-name +F is it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page for follow... strange. Make it an answer!– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
@don_crissti Nice...
less --follow-name +F is it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page for follow... strange. Make it an answer!– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there -
--follow-name is described, but +F is never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there -
--follow-name is described, but +F is never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
If you came here because of a Google search for
less follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to make less follow file changes!– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27
If you came here because of a Google search for
less follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to make less follow file changes!– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
30
down vote
accepted
Yes, less can follow by file name
The feature has a fairly obscure syntax:
less --follow-name +F file.log
With less, --follow-name is different from the tail option --follow=name.
It does not make less follow the file, instead it modifies the behaviour of the command key F inside of less to follow based on the file name, not the file descriptor.
Also, there is no normal option to start less in follow mode.
But you can use the command line to give keystrokes to execute after startup, by prefixing them with +.
Combining the modifier option with +F, less will actually start in the (modified) follow mode.
Use +F alone for the equivalent of plain tail -f:
less +F file.log
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.lesshas options to control the buffer size used per file (-band-B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.
– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for-Bsays that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.
– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In Fedora at least less has a +F option that follows the contents of a file just like tail -f does..
Update, try hitting F in less to toggle to follow mode as well
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,-F: The man page of less says:-F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version oflessdo you have? Mine saysless 458with the option-V.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line ofless -Visless 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
 |Â
show 3 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
30
down vote
accepted
Yes, less can follow by file name
The feature has a fairly obscure syntax:
less --follow-name +F file.log
With less, --follow-name is different from the tail option --follow=name.
It does not make less follow the file, instead it modifies the behaviour of the command key F inside of less to follow based on the file name, not the file descriptor.
Also, there is no normal option to start less in follow mode.
But you can use the command line to give keystrokes to execute after startup, by prefixing them with +.
Combining the modifier option with +F, less will actually start in the (modified) follow mode.
Use +F alone for the equivalent of plain tail -f:
less +F file.log
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.lesshas options to control the buffer size used per file (-band-B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.
– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for-Bsays that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.
– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
add a comment |Â
up vote
30
down vote
accepted
Yes, less can follow by file name
The feature has a fairly obscure syntax:
less --follow-name +F file.log
With less, --follow-name is different from the tail option --follow=name.
It does not make less follow the file, instead it modifies the behaviour of the command key F inside of less to follow based on the file name, not the file descriptor.
Also, there is no normal option to start less in follow mode.
But you can use the command line to give keystrokes to execute after startup, by prefixing them with +.
Combining the modifier option with +F, less will actually start in the (modified) follow mode.
Use +F alone for the equivalent of plain tail -f:
less +F file.log
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.lesshas options to control the buffer size used per file (-band-B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.
– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for-Bsays that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.
– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
add a comment |Â
up vote
30
down vote
accepted
up vote
30
down vote
accepted
Yes, less can follow by file name
The feature has a fairly obscure syntax:
less --follow-name +F file.log
With less, --follow-name is different from the tail option --follow=name.
It does not make less follow the file, instead it modifies the behaviour of the command key F inside of less to follow based on the file name, not the file descriptor.
Also, there is no normal option to start less in follow mode.
But you can use the command line to give keystrokes to execute after startup, by prefixing them with +.
Combining the modifier option with +F, less will actually start in the (modified) follow mode.
Use +F alone for the equivalent of plain tail -f:
less +F file.log
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
Yes, less can follow by file name
The feature has a fairly obscure syntax:
less --follow-name +F file.log
With less, --follow-name is different from the tail option --follow=name.
It does not make less follow the file, instead it modifies the behaviour of the command key F inside of less to follow based on the file name, not the file descriptor.
Also, there is no normal option to start less in follow mode.
But you can use the command line to give keystrokes to execute after startup, by prefixing them with +.
Combining the modifier option with +F, less will actually start in the (modified) follow mode.
Use +F alone for the equivalent of plain tail -f:
less +F file.log
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
edited May 8 '17 at 18:09
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
answered Apr 15 '15 at 9:12
Volker Siegel
10.3k33058
10.3k33058
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.lesshas options to control the buffer size used per file (-band-B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.
– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for-Bsays that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.
– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
add a comment |Â
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.lesshas options to control the buffer size used per file (-band-B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.
– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for-Bsays that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.
– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
I suspect that if you follow an infinite stream with less, this will eventually exhaust your memory because unlike tail -f, the amount of memory used is not limited by the terminal scrollback limit (unless the terminal scrollback limit is also infinite). less +F has to preserve the entire scrollback history, and cannot rely on reloading slices from a file on the harddisk.
– CMCDragonkai
May 3 '17 at 2:31
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.
less has options to control the buffer size used per file (-b and -B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
@CMCDragonkai Interesting point.
less has options to control the buffer size used per file (-b and -B), it's not obvious to me whether the size is limited by default.– Volker Siegel
May 8 '17 at 18:04
The man page for
-B says that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
The man page for
-B says that "By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated automatically as needed. If a large amount of data is read from the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory to be allocated. The -B option disables this automatic allocation of buffers for pipes, so that only 64 K ( or the amount of space specified by the -b option) is used for the pipe.". So that means when reading from a infinite pipe, infinite memory is allocated by default, but if reading from a file like a log file, then 64 K slices is used by default.– CMCDragonkai
May 10 '17 at 7:02
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
In Fedora at least less has a +F option that follows the contents of a file just like tail -f does..
Update, try hitting F in less to toggle to follow mode as well
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,-F: The man page of less says:-F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version oflessdo you have? Mine saysless 458with the option-V.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line ofless -Visless 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
In Fedora at least less has a +F option that follows the contents of a file just like tail -f does..
Update, try hitting F in less to toggle to follow mode as well
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,-F: The man page of less says:-F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version oflessdo you have? Mine saysless 458with the option-V.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line ofless -Visless 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
In Fedora at least less has a +F option that follows the contents of a file just like tail -f does..
Update, try hitting F in less to toggle to follow mode as well
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
In Fedora at least less has a +F option that follows the contents of a file just like tail -f does..
Update, try hitting F in less to toggle to follow mode as well
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
edited Aug 23 at 12:06
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
answered Aug 23 at 11:53
user1529413
113
113
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,-F: The man page of less says:-F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version oflessdo you have? Mine saysless 458with the option-V.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line ofless -Visless 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
 |Â
show 3 more comments
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,-F: The man page of less says:-F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version oflessdo you have? Mine saysless 458with the option-V.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line ofless -Visless 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.
– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,
-F: The man page of less says: -F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version of less do you have? Mine says less 458 with the option -V.– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
Are you sure? My less has a conflicting option named the same,
-F: The man page of less says: -F or --quit-if-one-screen. Which version of less do you have? Mine says less 458 with the option -V.– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 11:59
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
unix.stackexchange.com/questions/467/…
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:03
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line of
less -V is less 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Very interesting, thanks for the link! That seems not to be a gnu less. The full first line of
less -V is less 458 (GNU regular expressions). Please give me your version.– Volker Siegel
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
Yes I am sure, but go ahead and down vote me, stackexchange needs to share the love
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:08
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
(mingw) less 481 (PCRE regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2015 Mark Nudelman (fedora) less 487 (POSIX regular expressions) Copyright (C) 1984-2016 Mark Nudelman
– user1529413
Aug 23 at 12:09
 |Â
show 3 more comments
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1
You could try with
less --follow-nameorless --follow-name +F– don_crissti
Apr 14 '15 at 20:41
@don_crissti Nice...
less --follow-name +Fis it - no idea how I missed that - I was pretty sure I searched the man page forfollow... strange. Make it an answer!– Volker Siegel
Apr 14 '15 at 23:48
Well, some more searching reveals it's already been asked and answered here so I'll leave it as a comment. You can always upvote the answer there.
– don_crissti
Apr 15 '15 at 0:35
@don_crissti Right... except that your correct answer is not found there -
--follow-nameis described, but+Fis never mentioned, and I think it's pretty important because it's not widely known obviously.– Volker Siegel
Apr 15 '15 at 0:45
If you came here because of a Google search for
less follow, READ THE QUESTION. It already answers how to makelessfollow file changes!– Hubert Grzeskowiak
Aug 15 '17 at 8:27