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.)

Answer 1

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.