title: Comparison between two big directories
body: <p>I have a large directory that contains only stuff in CS and Math. It is over 16GB in size. The types are text, png, pdf and chm. I have currently two branches: a branch of my brother's and mine. The initial files were the same. I need to compare them. I have tried to use Git, but there is a long loading time. </p>
  
  <p><em>What is the best way to compare two big directories?</em></p>
  
  <p><strong>[Mixed Solution]</strong></p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Do a "ls -R > different_files" in both directories                [1]</li>
  <li>"sdiff &lt;(echo file1 | md5deep) &lt;(echo file2 | md5deep)"             [2]</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>What do you think? Any drawbacks?</p>
  
  <p><em>[1] thanks to Paul Tomblin
  [2] great thanks to all repliers!</em></p>