Windows Linux Text Processing

Windows `fc` equivalent in Linux

Compares two files and shows the differences between them line by line.

Windows fc

→

Linux equivalents

Debian/Ubuntu same command

diff

Fedora same command

diff

Arch same command

diff

Overview

What this command does

Compares two files and shows the differences between them line by line.

Migration tip: diff output can look cryptic at first. Use diff -u for unified format — lines starting with - were removed, + were added. This is the same format used by git.

Practical tasks

Common use cases

Compare two files

Compares two files and shows the differences between them line by line.

diff -u file1 file2

Unified format (easiest to read)

diff -i file1 file2

Ignore case differences

diff -w file1 file2

Ignore whitespace differences

Ready to run

Copyable Linux commands

Review paths, device names, package names and permissions before running any command.

diff file1.txt file2.txt

diff -u file1.txt file2.txt

diff -r dir1/ dir2/

diff --side-by-side file1.txt file2.txt

Walkthrough

Examples with explanations

# Windows: fc file1.txt file2.txt
diff file1.txt file2.txt       # show differences
diff -u file1.txt file2.txt   # unified format (git-style)
diff -r dir1/ dir2/          # compare two directories

# Side-by-side view:
diff --side-by-side file1.txt file2.txt

Reference

Common options and variations

Command or option	Use
`diff -u file1 file2`	Unified format (easiest to read)
`diff -i file1 file2`	Ignore case differences
`diff -w file1 file2`	Ignore whitespace differences
`diff -r dir1 dir2`	Compare entire directories
`vimdiff file1 file2`	Side-by-side visual comparison

Distro differences

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

This command is the same on Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch Linux when the relevant tool is installed.

Distribution	Package manager / base	Equivalent command	Difference to notice
Debian/Ubuntu	same command	`diff`	Same command on this distribution.
Fedora	same command	`diff`	Same command on this distribution.
Arch	same command	`diff`	Same command on this distribution.

Keep learning

What this command does

Common use cases

Compare two files

diff -u file1 file2

diff -i file1 file2

diff -w file1 file2

Copyable Linux commands

Examples with explanations

Common options and variations

Debian/Ubuntu vs Fedora vs Arch

Related Text Processing commands