Finding duplicate files

Given the ease with which we create and copy files, it's inevitable to end up with duplicates in our hard drives. Not a good situation, of course: duplicates take up space, and can sometimes lead to inconsistencies in data. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to sniff out these unwanted copies?

fdupes is a small utility that does just that. It's only 18Kb, but darned! it's fast. On my quad-core, it can sift through a thousand PDF files in under two minutes and churn out a list of the dupes.

The man page explains everything you need to know. It's probably best used with its recursive option, though:

fdupes -r mydirectory/