David W. JonesFeb 4

Any GUI Linux directory comparison tools that work?

I tried KDIFF3, it crashes partway through comparison. I understand that v1.10 has a bug and crashes when a directory has symlinks in it, as my home folder does.

I tried KDIFF3 v1.12 via the abomination called Flatpak, but it also crashes partway through scanning.

I tried MELD, it just hangs there "scanning" but uses no CPU and is doing nothing...

Ideas?

#Linux

Show threadTriddleFeb 4

@dancingtreefrog I use both kdiff3 and meld on a regular basis on Linux and BSD with no issues, but not with directories as large as yours, only a few gigabytes and tens of thousands of files per side. Both work well at that level, the initial scan taking maybe fifteen seconds.

It's possible meld is working, but just needs more time.

It's also possible there are more files than either can handle; I don't know their upper limits.

Show threadDavid W. Jones
@Triddle Update: I left meld running over night, it finished about 8-10 hours later and seemed to find everything.
Feb 4 at 8:49pmWeb
Show threadTriddleFeb 4
@dancingtreefrog ok, that's good. Pity it takes so long, but I guess it will do what you need. Hopefully you don't need to do it too often...
Show threadDavid W. JonesFeb 4

@Triddle Thanks, the discussions inspired me to check out other options and think over my situation.

I mirror my home directory each day to two other locations, so I can get files back if needed.

When no longer needed, I need to clean up orphaned files at the other locations.

I use rsync, which can delete destination files that are missing from the source, so I put together a script to run each month that removes orphans after my regular monthly backup.

But nice to have options to KDIFF3!