pkgdiff

Compare contents of Slackware packages

TLDR

Compare two packages

$ pkgdiff [package1.txz] [package2.txz]

Compare with color output

$ pkgdiff -c [package1.txz] [package2.txz]

Output unified diff format

$ pkgdiff -a [package1.txz] [package2.txz]

SYNOPSIS

pkgdiff [-a] [-c] package1 package2

pkgdiff compares the contents of two Slackware packages and displays the differences. It shows files that were added, removed, or modified between package versions, useful for reviewing package updates.The tool extracts both packages temporarily and compares their file listings and contents, similar to diff but specialized for package archives.

PARAMETERS

-a

Output simple unified diff format

-c

Colorize output for readability

INSTALL

sudo dnf install pkgdiff

sudo pacman -S pkgdiff

sudo zypper install pkgdiff

brew install pkgdiff

nix profile install nixpkgs#pkgdiff

CAVEATS

Slackware-specific tool. Requires txz/tgz package format. Temporary disk space needed for extraction. Large packages may take time to compare.

HISTORY

pkgdiff is part of Slackware's pkgtools package management suite. Slackware uses a simple tar-based package format, and pkgdiff helps maintainers and users understand what changes between package versions.