Hi,
I use "diff -r" when comparing a directory tree to a copy that I have made when the storage media is questionable. There are often broken symlinks in the original (usually a backup from some defunct machine). When I do the diff, I get thousands of messages along the lines of :
diff: gecko-clone-100714/var/X11R6/lib/xkb/xkbcomp: No such file or directory
diff: /home2/Backups/gecko-clone-100714/var/X11R6/lib/xkb/xkbcomp: No such file or directory
There are also messages along the lines of:
X/afifo is a fifo while Y/afifo is a fifo
... or a socket or a character special, etc.
These aren't really useful in this context and bury any really important errors.
Could you add switches to :
1. Not dereference symlinks, but compare the symlink itself (i.e. no message if they point to the same non-existant place)?
2. Not report the "this is an orange while that is an orange" messages?
Thank you,
Randy Fisher
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