/bin/ls is ALWAYS showing hidden files. it should not No matter how i try to make sure /bin/ls has not been aliased, executing any ls command always shows the hidden files. How can I change this?
As the # prompt shows this is being run as root.
# type ls
ls is /bin/ls
# ls ~
.CFUserTextEncoding
.mysql_history
Downloads
.bash_history
...
fd0 is correct.  I was running as root.  Though I have to say that I'm completely baffled as to why this should be the case.  Well, whatever, nobody cares about my bafflement.  Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.
i can't figure out how to give fd0 credit.