eza: https://github.com/eza-community/eza

Many folks nowadays don't get how lucky they are, not having to do UNIX development on a time-sharing system, although cloud systems kind of replicate the experience.

Only to feel totally handicapped when logging in into a busybox environment.

I'm glad I learned how to use vi, grep, sed..

My only change to an environment is the keyboard layout. I learned Colemak when I was young. Still enjoying it every day.

Agreed, but that doesn't stop you from using/learning alternatives. Just use your preferred option, based on what's available. I realise this could be too much to apply to something like a programming language (despite this, many of us know more than one) or a graphics application, but for something like a pager, it should be trivial to switch back and forth.

Not everybody is a sysadmin manually logging into lots of independent, heterogeneous servers throughout the day.

apt-get/pacman/dnf/brew install <everything that you need>

You'll need install those and other tools (your favorite browser, you favorite text editor, etc) anyway if you're changing your OS.

> or SSH anywhere

When you connect through SSH you don't have GUI and that's not a reason for avoiding using GUI tools, for example.

> even use a mix of these on my personal computer and the traditional ones elsewhere

I can't see the problem, really. I use some of those tools and they are convenient, but it doesn't matter that I can't work without that. For example, bat: it doesn't replace cat, it only outputs data with syntax highlight, makes my life easier but if I don't have it, ok.

It's useless as a cat replacement, I agree. The article really shouldn't call it that, although the program's GitHub page does self-describe it as "a cat clone". It's more of a syntax highlighter combined with a git diff viewer (I do have an issue with that; it should be two separate programs, not one).

I can't see bat as a "useless cat" or a replacement for cat except for reading source code in the terminal. It's more a like a less with syntax highlight or a read-only vim.