Linux

11550 readers

469 users here now

A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)

Also, check out:

Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Ategon@programming.dev

anzo@programming.dev

dwraf_of_ignorance@programming.dev

cpx Introduced as a Faster, Modern Replacement for Linux cp (linuxiac.com)

submitted 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) by cm0002@digipres.cafe to c/linux@programming.dev

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

As we all know, file copying on Linux has long relied on the classic cp command, which remains reliable but offers little feedback and limited control over long or complex operations.

To address this, a promising new Rust-based command-line tool called cpx emerge, designed as an alternative rather than a replacement, that approaches the same task with a focus on performance, visibility, and configurability.

It targets scenarios where large directory trees, interrupted transfers, or the need for detailed progress reporting make standard tools less convenient to use. The project is currently Linux-only and leverages modern kernel features to improve copy throughput and reliability.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] eleijeep@piefed.social 14 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

What's wrong with rsync?

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 3 points 10 hours ago

I've had cp aliased to rsync with my flags for years. It seems like a lot of newcomers try to "fix" stuff before they really understand what's available. Or they just like to play around with different programming languages. Which is fine, but usually it's not really interesting to me.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 10 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

It's a damn pain to remember all the flags. How many flags can a program friggin have? I'm always afraid that some flag I enter will reverse the sync and delete everything in the source folder because the target is empty.

I use rsync only when all params have been reseasrched and tested. cpx presumably just requires cpx - r source target instead of 5 rsync flags.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 7 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 57 minutes ago) (2 children)

The only one you need is -a. -avz if you want verbose and compression.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (2 children)

I just looked it up and - x means one filesystem. But does - v give you a progress bar or just a lost of stuff copied?

IIRC rsync also treats the trailing slash in a special manner that I always have to look up.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 2 points 55 minutes ago

Ha. I meant z. I guess I was getting mixed up with tar.

No slash means the directory. Slash means the items in the directory.

[–] cyrl@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

The trailing slash is just following cp's own special treatment


# before
dir/
    file1
target/
    orig.txt



# no trailing slash - copy *dir* to target
cp -r /path/to/some/dir /my/target

# after
target/
    orig.txt
    dir/            # dir copied to target
        file1



# with trailing slash - copy *contents* of dir to target
cp -r /path/to/some/dir/ /my/target

# after
target/
    orig.txt
    file1            # contents of dir

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

--progress=info2 could be a bit shorter imo

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

What 5 flags did rsync need? I always just do -av and go about my day. And the -v is kinda optional.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

How do you get the progress bar?

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

--progress 🤷‍♂️

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 7 points 16 hours ago

That's probably the next wheel some overzealous Rust dev will reinvent.

[–] cm0002@digipres.cafe 4 points 16 hours ago

Too many letters to type obvi! /s