The output of the LIST command is not defined, so parsing the output is error-prone.

The MLSD (and MLST) commands are defined in RFC 3659, provides a "machine readable" directory listing, with a well-defined format. Conformant servers advertise that they support the command (via FEAT), allowing clients to use MLSD command if the server supports it. Apache commons ftp client also supports the mlsd command, albeit via explicit commands.

The suggested improvement is that the publish-over-ftp uses MLSD command on servers that support it.