Dwdiff Shows Changes Word for Word
Version 1.3 of dwdiff, a free front-end for the Unix diff program has just been released and is now licensed under the GPLv3.
The command line program checks texts for changes word for word, whereas the legacy Unix tool diff takes a line-oriented approach. The user can define what dwdiff sees as whitespace between words. This distinguishes the program from wdiff, which also uses a word for word approach. Apart from this, dwdiff lets users set delimiter characters which the program also treats as words if they are not surrounded by blanks.
Version 1.3 has one new option that outputs a couple of lines a context on either side of a change. Another option displays the line numbers of the two compared files. At the same time, the GPLv3 replaces the Open Software License 2.0.
The dwdiff homepage has the source code of the program, Debian/Ubuntu packages and an RPM archive available for downloading. There are also ports for OpenBSD and FreeBSD and an ebuild script for Gentoo Linux.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.