Stop Running rsync Blindly: Preview Differences Before a Safe Incremental Sync

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0800

The short answer

The best rsync habit is not memorizing more switches. It is separating every risky job into two stages: generate a dry-run plan first, review it, and only then perform the real incremental sync. Deletion should be a separate, explicit permission rather than a hidden default.

The common rsync -n -avz --delete --out-format="%n" pattern can list paths that may change, but %n only preserves the name. A safer machine-readable plan uses --itemize-changes together with %i, so each line identifies an addition, update, deletion, or metadata change.

Windows Finally Gets Native Linux Commands: Microsoft Coreutils Replaces WSL, Cygwin, and Git Bash

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0800

Let me ask you something:

Have you ever tried to grep a log file in Windows Terminal, only to be told that grep is not a recognized command? Tried to use find to locate files, only to discover that Windows’ find is a completely different beast from Linux’s find? Written a cross-platform script that works perfectly on Linux, then falls apart the moment it touches Windows?

It’s not your fault. It’s the “Berlin Wall” between Windows and Linux command lines.

The good news? Microsoft just tore that wall down. In late 2025, Microsoft open-sourced coreutils on GitHub — a native Windows port of the essential Linux command set. No WSL. No Cygwin. No Git Bash. Just one winget install command, and your Windows terminal suddenly speaks fluent ls, grep, sed, and awk.

WSL on Margrop Blog

Stop Running rsync Blindly: Preview Differences Before a Safe Incremental Sync

Windows Finally Gets Native Linux Commands: Microsoft Coreutils Replaces WSL, Cygwin, and Git Bash