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Synchi - Two-way file sync (jakobkreft.github.io)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Two-way file sync, no remote agent needed

Today Synchi is finally public! It's designed for syncing files between two locations (local or over SSH). It detects conflicts, and lets you decide what to do.

Why not rsync/Unison/Syncthing?

  • rsync has no memory between runs and is one-way
  • Unison needs to be installed on both sides
  • Syncthing requires always-on daemons

Synchi runs on demand, works over SSH, and only transfers what actually changed.

I use it daily for syncing a shared folder between my machines and an android phone. Works great in combination with Tailscale/WireGuard so that you can sync files remotely.

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[–] [S] 9 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Great question! Let me sum it up here for others:

rsync is one-way only and has no memory between runs, every execution starts from scratch. Synchi is two-way, stateful (knows what changed since last sync), and content-aware (uses hashes, so no false positives from timestamp changes). It also handles conflicts explicitly instead of silently overwriting.

That said, rsync is still the better tool for backups and one-way mirroring. Synchi is for when you need true bidirectional sync.

Here is also a comparison with unison and syncthing: https://jakobkreft.github.io/synchi/why.html

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Maybe I missed it, but you don't seem to mention anywhere sub-file sync (binary diffing) support (or presumably the lack of it), which is very important for fast syncing when files actually change!

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 7 months ago

    You are correct! no sub-file sync / binary diffing at the moment. It was my deliberate choice to keep complexity down. In practice, text files where diffing helps are tiny and transfer instantly anyway, and large files like images and videos almost never change partially. The main case where it would matter is something like large database files or VM images. That said, it's not off the table for the future!

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