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(efaq)Escape sequences in shell output

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Why do I get these strange escape sequences when I run
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   `ls' from the Shell mode?

   This happens because `ls' is aliased to `ls --color' in your shell
init file.  You have two alternatives to solve this:

   * Make the alias conditioned on the `EMACS' variable in the
     environment.  When Emacs runs a subsidiary shell, it exports the
     `EMACS' variable with the value `t' to that shell.  You can
     unalias `ls' when that happens, thus limiting the alias to your
     interactive sessions.

   * Install the `ansi-color' package (bundled with Emacs 21.1 and
     later), which converts these ANSI escape sequences into colors.