diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # Release history for stack-all
 
+## 0.5 (2024-02-19)
+- support ghc-X.Y/ghcX.Y aliases for lts major versions
+- default oldest lts bumped from lts-11 (ghc8.2) to lts-16 (ghc8.8)
+- ignore .cabal file directory
+
 ## 0.4.2 (2023-10-01)
 - support unversioned "lts" argument
 - add --refresh-cache option to force refresh of cached snapshots.json
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,25 +8,28 @@
 
 `stack-all` by default runs `stack build` over Stackage Nightly and
 LTS major versions
-(current default is nightly & LTS 21, 20, 19, 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, 11)
+(current default is nightly & major LTS versions back to lts-16)
 corresponding to latest major ghc minor versions,
 with appropriate stack `--resolver` options.
 
 Note that `stack` only works if a `stack.yaml` file exists.
-If no `stack.yaml` file is found, `stack-all` will create one.
+If no `stack.yaml` file is found in a .cabal project,
+`stack-all` will create one.
 Of course it may still fail to build, but this allows for
 quickly trying to build a package that does not include stack support.
 
 ### Help output
-```shellsession
-$ stack-all --version
-0.4.2
-$ stack-all --help
+`$ stack-all --version`
+```
+0.5
+```
+`$ stack-all --help`
+```
 Build over Stackage versions
 
-Usage: stack-all [--version] [(-c|--create-config) | (-s|--make-lts)]
-                 [-k|--keep-going] [-d|--debug] [--refresh-cache]
-                 [-n|--newest MAJOR] [(-o|--oldest MAJOR) | (-a|--all-lts)]
+Usage: stack-all [--version] [(-c|--create-config) | (-s|--make-lts)] 
+                 [-k|--keep-going] [-d|--debug] [--refresh-cache] 
+                 [-n|--newest MAJOR] [(-o|--oldest MAJOR) | (-a|--all-lts)] 
                  [MAJORVER... [COMMAND...]]
 
   stack-all builds projects easily across different Stackage versions
@@ -51,11 +54,11 @@
 older LTS major versions until another `stack-ltsYY.yaml` file is found.
 `stack-nightly.yaml` is also supported, but used only for nightly.
 
-For example if you have `stack-lts19.yaml` and `stack-lts16.yaml` files
+For example if you have `stack-lts20.yaml` and `stack-lts18.yaml` files
 in your project,
-then `stack.yaml` will be used as normal to build nightly, lts-21 and lts-20,
-but `stack-lts19.yaml` will be used for building lts-19 and lts-18,
-and `stack-lts16.yaml` will be used for lts-16, lts-14 (and older).
+then `stack.yaml` will be used as normal to build nightly, lts-22 and lts-21,
+but `stack-lts20.yaml` will be used for building lts-20 and lts-19,
+and `stack-lts18.yaml` will be used for lts-18, lts-16 (and older).
 Since `stack-all` overrides the exact resolver with the latest minor snapshot,
 the exact minor Stackage version specified in the `stack*.yaml` files
 doesn't actually matter: `stack-all` always uses the latest published
@@ -71,32 +74,35 @@
 You can abbreviate `lts-XX` args to `ltsXX` on the commandline.
 `lts` is also accepted and resolved to the latest major LTS version.
 
+You can also use ghc major version aliases:
+eg `ghc9.6` corresponds to `lts22` or `ghc-9.2` to `lts-20`.
+
 There are `--oldest`  and `--newest` options to specify the range of
 lts versions to build over:
 
 You can specify the oldest major LTS to build for with eg `stack-all -o lts14`.
-Otherwise if not configured the default oldest LTS is currently `lts-11`.
+Otherwise if not configured the default oldest LTS is currently `lts-16`.
 
 Similarly you can specify the newest LTS version to build from with
-eg `stack-all -n lts19`. (The default is to build from nightly.)
+eg `stack-all -n lts20`. (The default is to build from nightly.)
 
 Alternatively, one can give one or more explicit LTS major versions to build
 for as arguments: eg `stack-all lts18` if you only wish to build that version.
 
 ### Configuring the oldest and/or newest LTS to build
 You can configure the oldest working LTS major version for your project
-by running for example `stack-all -c -o lts-16` which generates a `.stack-all`
+by running for example `stack-all -c -o lts-18` which generates a `.stack-all`
 project config file like this:
 ```
 [versions]
-# lts-14 too old
-oldest = lts-16
+# lts-16 too old
+oldest = lts-18
 ```
 (the comment line can be used to document why the older LTS doesn't work).
-This specifies that the oldest LTS version to build for is lts-16.
+This specifies that the oldest LTS version to build for is lts-18.
 
 The newest LTS to build with stack-all can similarly be configured:
-`stack-all -c -n lts20` or setting `newest = lts-20`.
+`stack-all -c -n lts21` or setting `newest = lts-21`.
 
 ### Running other stack commands
 By default `stack-all` just runs the stack `build` command over
diff --git a/src/Main.hs b/src/Main.hs
--- a/src/Main.hs
+++ b/src/Main.hs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 import Snapshots
 
 defaultOldestLTS :: MajorVer
-defaultOldestLTS = LTS 11
+defaultOldestLTS = LTS 16
 
 data VersionLimit = DefaultLimit | Oldest MajorVer | AllVersions
 
@@ -241,8 +241,11 @@
 
 -- looks in current dir for a unique file with given extension
 doesFileExistWithExtension :: FilePath -> String -> IO Bool
-doesFileExistWithExtension dir ext =
-  isJust <$> fileWithExtension dir ext
+doesFileExistWithExtension dir ext = do
+  mf <- fileWithExtension dir ext
+  case mf of
+    Nothing -> return False
+    Just f -> doesFileExist f
 
 #if !MIN_VERSION_filepath(1,4,2)
 isExtensionOf :: String -> FilePath -> Bool
diff --git a/src/MajorVer.hs b/src/MajorVer.hs
--- a/src/MajorVer.hs
+++ b/src/MajorVer.hs
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
   )
 where
 
-import Control.Applicative
 import Data.List.Extra
 import SimpleCmd (error')
 import Text.Read (readMaybe)
@@ -21,12 +20,27 @@
 
 maybeReadMajor :: String -> Maybe MajorVer
 maybeReadMajor "nightly" = Just Nightly
-maybeReadMajor ver =
-  if "lts" `isPrefixOf` ver then
-    case readMaybe (dropPrefix "lts-" ver) <|> readMaybe (dropPrefix "lts" ver) of
-      Just major -> Just (LTS major)
-      Nothing -> Nothing
-  else Nothing
+maybeReadMajor ver
+  | "lts" `isPrefixOf` ver =
+      case readMaybe (dropPrefix "-" (dropPrefix "lts-" ver)) of
+        Just major -> Just (LTS major)
+        Nothing -> Nothing
+  | "ghc" `isPrefixOf` ver =
+      case dropPrefix "-" (dropPrefix "ghc" ver) of
+        "9.6" -> Just (LTS 22)
+        "9.4" -> Just (LTS 21)
+        "9.2" -> Just (LTS 20)
+        "9.0" -> Just (LTS 19)
+        "8.10" -> Just (LTS 18)
+        "8.8" -> Just (LTS 16)
+        "8.6" -> Just (LTS 14)
+        "8.4" -> Just (LTS 12)
+        "8.2" -> Just (LTS 11)
+        "8.0" -> Just (LTS 9)
+        "7.10" -> Just (LTS 6)
+        "7.8" -> Just (LTS 2)
+        _ -> Nothing
+  | otherwise = Nothing
 
 -- readMajor "lts-16"
 readMajor :: String -> MajorVer
@@ -36,7 +50,7 @@
   case maybeReadMajor ver of
     Just s -> s
     Nothing ->
-      error' $! "couldn't parse " ++ ver ++ " (expected lts-XX or ltsXX)"
+      error' $! "couldn't parse " ++ ver ++ " (expected lts-XX, ltsXX, ghc-X.Y or ghcX.Y)"
 
 -- readCompactMajor "lts16"
 -- Should we support "stack-lts.yaml"?
diff --git a/src/Snapshots.hs b/src/Snapshots.hs
--- a/src/Snapshots.hs
+++ b/src/Snapshots.hs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #else
 import qualified Data.HashMap.Lazy as M
 #endif
+import Data.Ord (comparing, Down(Down))
 import qualified Data.Text as T
 import Network.HTTP.Query
 import SimpleCmd (error')
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@
 getMajorVers :: IO [MajorVer]
 getMajorVers = do
   obj <- getSnapshots False
-  return $ reverse . sort $ map (readMajor . T.unpack . toText) (M.keys obj \\ ["lts"]) \\ excludedMajors
+  return $
+    sortBy (comparing Down) $
+    map (readMajor . T.unpack . toText) (M.keys obj \\ ["lts"]) \\ excludedMajors
 #if !MIN_VERSION_aeson(2,0,0)
   where toText = id
 #endif
diff --git a/stack-all.cabal b/stack-all.cabal
--- a/stack-all.cabal
+++ b/stack-all.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                stack-all
-version:             0.4.2
+version:             0.5
 synopsis:            CLI tool for building across Stackage major versions
 description:
         Build your Haskell project over Stackage major LTS versions.
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 license-file:        LICENSE
 author:              Jens Petersen <juhpetersen@gmail.com>
 maintainer:          Jens Petersen <juhpetersen@gmail.com>
-copyright:           2020-2023  Jens Petersen <juhpetersen@gmail.com>
+copyright:           2020-2024  Jens Petersen <juhpetersen@gmail.com>
 category:            Distribution
 homepage:            https://github.com/juhp/stack-all
 bug-reports:         https://github.com/juhp/stack-all/issues
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
                      ChangeLog.md
 cabal-version:       1.18
 tested-with:         GHC == 8.0.2, GHC == 8.2.2, GHC == 8.4.4, GHC == 8.6.5,
-                     GHC == 8.8.4, GHC == 8.10.7, GHC == 9.0.2, GHC == 9.2.7
+                     GHC == 8.8.4, GHC == 8.10.7, GHC == 9.0.2, GHC == 9.2.8,
+                     GHC == 9.4.8, GHC == 9.6.4, GHC == 9.8.1
 
 source-repository head
   type:                git