Is there a folder/file compare application?

English Applications
#1

I’m a regular user of ‘Beyond Compare’ under windows. I value it’s power and simplicity of use to allow me to keep my various archives updated and to implement a sort of crude but very flexible RAID1 archtiecture for data recoverability.

Is there an application under Linux that offers a similar level of functionality and ease of use for dedicated folder and file comparisons. The old way of using a file manager to compare 2 directory lists by eye on screen is impractical when I have a couple of million files to maintain.

#2

Get familiar with diff command :slight_smile:

diff - Linux Command - Unix Command

#3

I have a better gui solution but I’m actually more inclined to tell you to continue supporting Beyond Compare they have a linux version. It is by supporting software houses that we will be better supported in the future.

But as many don’t want to spend the extra install kdiff3

#4

You can try kompare and kdiff3 . They worked well for me.

#5

> to implement a sort of crude but very flexible RAID1 archtiecture
> for data recoverability.

i don’t know exactly what “RAID1 archtiecture” is or what it has to do
with “data recoverability”, but if all you you wanna do is make an
exact copy of a folder (or folderS) and contents somewhere else, you
need look no further than rsync…

you can use ONE command to do the whole thing (“whole thing” meaning
when you execute the command it will COMPARE all files in all
designated folders and automatically update the copy to match the
original)…

you can even put single command into cron and have it run hourly,
daily, or monthly as you wish…

or put it under a icon that you can click anytime you feel like it…

and rsync works to make copies on another partitions, other drives,
networked machine’s drives, or all the way around the earth to other
countries!

–
goldie

#6

Thank you for the suggestion, but the soliution you recommend has 2 characteristics that do not meet my needs:

  1. It is a command

  2. It does things automatically. That’s the last capability I would ever give to any computer, having spent my early career working with control systems that did things ‘automatically’!

No, I need a GUI based solution and I want to be able to control it as if it were a command line - as I said: crude and flexible. My explanation is a vague, owing to lack of skill and vocaublary, but if you have ever used Beyond Compare you will immediately see why a simple, but ‘volume’ user like myself finds the product meets requirements.

#7

Thanks, I was not aware of this. I’ll have a look at it.

#8

XEyedBear, I know it’s not what you want, I hope you find BeyondCompare for Linux, but maybe give rsync a chance one day?

The rsync options --dry-run --itemize-changes should be of interest. You can wrap everything up in a script and a GUI eventually.

#9

Trust me, rsync is very reliable even if it’s “automatic”. If it wasn’t, I won’t be using it at work for years to backup 35 critical servers. It never failed once but I guess you’ll never know until you try it yourself :wink:

and you think command utilities are less reliable than GUIs? Think again :wink:

#10

You might could give Grsync a try. It’s rsync with a GUI front-end.

#11

> 1. It is a command
> 2. It does things automatically.
> No, I need a GUI based solution

ok, have it your way my friend…if you wanna do it the hard way use
BeeDiff (its in the repos) to compare and then drag and drop (or
copy*paste) to update…

but be REAL careful because BeeDiff does things AUTOMATICALLY, like it
uses things like ls (a DREADED ‘command’) to build the list of files
you see in the GUI!!

and, if you drag and drop in Konqueror or Dolphin you LOOSE total
control because in actuality no mouse is strong enough to carry all
that weight, and another SCARY command (like mv) actually does the work!)

while rsync is SO simple, direct and totally in control!

rsync --archive --delete /path/to/source/ /path/to/destination/

will ensure the second (destination) directory contains an exact copy
of the first (source directory)

the “–delete” removes files from the destination directory that are
no longer present on the first (like, maybe they were deleted), and
“–archive” cause all file permissions and time stamps to be copied to
the destination also…

> if you have ever used Beyond Compare

i guess that is a Windows program invented after i stopped using M$
products, in 1995…so i wouldn’t know how wonderfully simple it is…

you could always dual boot and keep using it…oh, but i guess Redmond
does not allow you to even see ext2,3 or 4 huh?

and, you better be real careful with YaST too (it does thing
automatically too!! woooooooo)

–
goldie
CAVEAT: The author of this posting does not warrant the accuracy,
completeness, legality, or usefulness of its content and is not
responsible for consequences resulting from its use.

#12

hahahaha, sorry but that was a hilarious post, Thumbs up, goldie! rotfl!

#13

It’s not the reliability of the command utilities I’m worried about - it’s the reliability of the typist! Much less to mis-spell and generally balls-up if a decently designed GUI is being used which does some sensible contextual editing of what the idiot user requests,

I have no negative views of rsync at all - especially if it has the ability to support those key servers as you say. The weakness - every time - is in the fingers of the end-user. For some inscrutable reason those fingers will not override the brain and type the correct command sequences when the brain is off thinking about something else instead. Which reminds me, it’s time for a cup of tea…

#14

It’s not the reliability of the command utilities I’m worried about - it’s the reliability of the typist! Much less to mis-spell and generally balls-up if a decently designed GUI is being used which does some sensible contextual editing of what the idiot user requests,

I have no negative views of rsync at all - especially if it has the ability to support those key servers as you say. The weakness - every time - is in the fingers of the end-user. For some inscrutable reason those fingers will not override the brain and type the correct command sequences when the brain is off thinking about something else instead. Which reminds me, it’s time for a cup of tea…

#15

That’s a GUI is it? Reminds me of a great line from ‘Crocodile Dundee’: “You call that a knife? This is a knife…”

Take a look at
Compare files and directories with this file comparison software - Beyond Compare is a powerful, time-saving file compare utility.

for the sort of thing I have in mind.