Less Compiler for Linux

Question

Is there a something like less.app that can compile LESS into CSS? I don't care about a GUI and don't want to install it via NPM (node.js package manager.)

Just `#apt-get install node-less`, then `$lessc styles.less`. — Ivan Kharlamov, Apr 25 '12 at 12:05
less.app monitors files and recompiles them automatically. If you looking for automatic compilation on Linux, here is how to do it: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13671969/how-to-automatically-compile-less-into-css-on-the-server/13671970#13671970 — romaninsh, Jan 18 '13 at 18:19
I wonder why on earth this question was closed as "not constructive"? It's a perfectly ordinary technical question, and doesn't seem to me "likely" to "solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion" -- nor has it. — Teemu Leisti, Mar 08 '13 at 09:48
I agree with @Teemu Leisti. I can't for the life of me figure out why this was closed. — monotasker, Aug 19 '13 at 17:11
[Autoless](https://github.com/jgonera/autoless) works well for me. No GUI, works with @import and compiles in half a second. However it *is* installed via npm. — Alexander Rechsteiner, Mar 14 '14 at 17:44
For OSX, see [Lesscss command line compiler Lessc](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18928028/lesscss-command-line-compiler-lessc). — kenorb, Jun 10 '14 at 16:09
For OSX, try also: `brew install npm && sudo npm install -g less`. Then it should be installed in `/usr/local/lib/node_modules/less/bin/lessc`. — kenorb, Jun 10 '14 at 16:14

score 49 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:22

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Although using node.js version is recommended, you can install less as ruby gem:

sudo apt-get install rubygems1.8 ruby1.8-dev
sudo gem install rubygems-update
sudo gem update rubygems
sudo gem install less

and than use lessc which is in /var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/lessc, so you may want to create symlink:

sudo ln -s /var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/lessc /usr/bin/

or add ruby gems dir to PATH variable:

export PATH=/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin:$PATH

EDIT:

Using lessc as described here:

Command-line usage

Less comes with a binary, which lets you invoke the compiler from the command-line, as such:
$ lessc styles.less
This will output the compiled CSS to stdout, you may then redirect it to a file of your choice:
$ lessc styles.less > styles.css
To output minified CSS, simply pass the -x option.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:22

Community

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answered Aug 30 '11 at 15:46

Grzegorz Rożniecki

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Thanks, it worked fine, but all it does is display it in the terminal, how to make it output to a file ? – Rigel Glen Sep 01 '11 at 04:35
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I've edited my answer, but it's basically unix-like output redirect to file (`lessc styles.less > styles.css`). – Grzegorz Rożniecki Sep 01 '11 at 07:20
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Is there a way to watch files – Rigel Glen Sep 03 '11 at 11:10
You know like watch a file for changes and automagically update the .css file – Rigel Glen Sep 04 '11 at 08:27
You could set up a [DVC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_revision_control) repository (I recommend Bazaar, it's quite easy) and create custom `pre_commit` hook as described [here for Bazaar](http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/bzr.dev/en/user-guide/hooks.html). – Grzegorz Rożniecki Sep 06 '11 at 14:52
@RigelGlen or you could use plain old `make`. – evnu Apr 28 '12 at 00:41
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This answer does not work. It results in `gem_original_require': no such file to load -- v8 (LoadError)`. In order to fix it, add one more essential ruby gem with the following command: `sudo gem install therubyracer"` – Artur Bodera May 07 '12 at 12:44
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+1, although the path to my lessc gem was slightly different on ubuntu 12.04 (`/var/lib/gems/1.8/gems/less-2.2.2/bin/lessc`) – JamesHalsall Sep 28 '12 at 13:46
how to tell compiler to auto compile or WATCH ? with linux terminal – STEEL Sep 25 '13 at 10:34
@STEEL Please post a new, separate question about that. – Grzegorz Rożniecki Sep 25 '13 at 10:47
@Xaerxess I justs did that here, can u please help. http://askubuntu.com/questions/349855/less-css-compiler-help-in-terminal – STEEL Sep 25 '13 at 11:04
@Xaerxess here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19003328/less-css-compiler-help-in-terminal – STEEL Sep 25 '13 at 11:11
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If you're asked to install gem 'therubyracer' to use Less, try: `sudo gem install therubyracer`. – kenorb Jun 10 '14 at 15:58

Ciddy Natadisastra · Answer 2 · 2012-08-14T22:53:10.103

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in fedora or centos distribution you should

$ sudo yum install rubygems
$ sudo yum install gcc-c++
$ sudo yum install ruby-devel     
$ sudo gem install less
$ sudo gem install therubyracer 

$ lessc yourLessFile.less > yourCssFile.css

edited Aug 14 '12 at 22:53

answered Aug 14 '12 at 22:47

Ciddy Natadisastra

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score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 10 '11 at 15:38

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You can also use this : http://wearekiss.com/simpless with a beautiful GUI and the watching process to automatically update the file when editing.

answered Nov 10 '11 at 15:38

Natim

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FWIW, this seems to be broken on ubuntu 11.10 x64 using simpleLESS 1.3 – Tim Howland Jan 22 '12 at 19:33
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The thing is that SimpleLess is created using a Crossplatform development tool. And It has huge bugs in Linux. And now, it is being "moved to the community", so, until a community takes the project, and works on it for the linux version, I see no future on bugfixing – Luis Lobo Borobia Mar 08 '12 at 14:12
I think these Bugs are caused by the used Framework - Titanium - not by SimpLESS itself. I can't run any Titanium Apps on 11.10. I guess we have to wait until Titanium finally fixes it. – js-coder Mar 09 '12 at 18:33
@LuisLoboBorobia are these bugs are fixed? Can't install SimpleLess on Ubuntu, is it a bug or I make something wrong? Simply donqloading, extracting the files nothing seems like install .sh or like that. thanks – YogiZoli Apr 21 '12 at 13:55

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 17 '12 at 01:56

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I have created a wxPython GUI app that uses node.js less compiler. It is on very early stage right now. Everyone's invited to contribute. I'm planning to make it very similar to MacOS's LessCSS App.

https://github.com/luislobo/Lobo-LessCSS-Compiler

answered Mar 17 '12 at 01:56

Luis Lobo Borobia

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Right now, it compiles less files on the same folder. Now I'm coding a destination path configuration / selector – Luis Lobo Borobia Mar 17 '12 at 01:56
It would be great if you continue this project. – darksoulsong Feb 02 '13 at 20:43
I didn't have the time to continue, and found a "simpler" solution: I created compile.sh scripts, then scheduled them using incron, may be this can be helpful for you in the meantime – Luis Lobo Borobia Mar 26 '13 at 19:39

Johann · Answer 5 · 2013-09-18T15:00:33.643

One solution is a bash script discussed here: https://www.maltheborch.com/2011/09/less-app-on-linux And available as a gist here: https://gist.github.com/malthe/1234308

It requires node, lessc, and inotify-tools (a small library for watching changes to files.) Simply throw it in a file, make that file executable, then run it with a directory as the argument.

The downside is that while it will watch a directory recursively, it will only compile whichever file was modified--it doesn't have the ability to automatically compile the less files which import the one you're working on.

Update: A similar option is this slightly more complex bash script which adds a few features: http://code.krml.fr/less.app

The links you've provided are dead :( – mhmpl Sep 18 '13 at 06:41 — mhmpl, Sep 18 '13 at 06:41

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 19 '12 at 20:03

I know, that this answer is quite "too late", but I recently tried to build a simple gui for linux. With JAVA and the less.js it is not just linux, but cross-platform. Simpless isn't supported anymore (since 1.3 as written in their blog) and Crunch uses Adobe Air which is also out of date.

here is my project: http://project.splashfish.de/Le-css/

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 19 '12 at 17:50

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For java there is an open source tool called wro4j.

It uses rhino as underlying engine for compiling less to css, but can also use node.js if it is supported on your environment.

answered Oct 19 '12 at 17:50

Alex Objelean

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Less Compiler for Linux

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