For example, I use Soulseek to download music. After a song finishes downloading, I usually move it to another folder (my main music library). Later on, when I’m searching again, I don’t always remember whether I already have a particular song, and I end up re-downloading it.

Is there a good way on Linux to keep track of what I’ve already downloaded, even after files are moved to different folders, so I can avoid downloading duplicates? Ideally, I’d like something that doesn’t require manually searching my entire music library every time.

One idea I had was leaving a placeholder file behind in the original download directory and configuring Soulseek not to overwrite it, but I’m not sure if Soulseek even has that option.

What tools or workflows would you recommend for this?

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[–] payhn@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Could you just set soul seek to the same directory you're moving the files to eventually and save a step?

[–] PumpkinDrama@reddthat.com 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Nah I like different folders for the different media types

[–] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I don't use soul seek but does it not allow you to set the location for each file youre downloading?

[–] PumpkinDrama@reddthat.com 1 points 6 days ago

Yeah it has a download to and a download option.

[–] dbtng@eviltoast.org 1 points 6 days ago

I use sticky notes on my monitor.

[–] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 0 points 6 days ago

If you use that to download straight to the folder you want to keep the files in, windows will tell you if you are attempting to download something that is already in the folder.

[–] JamonBear@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If your soulseek and music directories are on the same partition, you can do hardlinks (cp -l) instead of moving files (mv), so the same file is available from the 2 locations while its content is only recorded once on your filesystem.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I never fully understood this concept. Why would I want my media files to remain in the "downloads" folder? It makes way more sense to move them to their appropriate "media" directories so their associated library software can see and properly catalog them.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

With hardlinks you would have both. File content can have multiple names pointing to it. That name basically includes the directory tree. So you can have ~/downloads/song.flac and ~/media/music/artist/album/song.flac. Both would point to exactly the same data on the drive. Not just a copy, but exactly the same spot on the drive.

As to why, see OPs post.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Right, but the media management software (*arr stack, in my case) already knows what it has and won't call to the downloader for duplicates unless manually triggered to do so. It just seems like an overcomplication to have hardlinks in multiple directories when you really only need the relevant files to be in the media directories...

I might be overthinking this.

[–] colourlessidea@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You might be underthinking it. With hardlinks the media management software looks in the media folder for the music files, while the downloading software looks in the downloads folder to avoid downloading duplicates. The files are stored only once but both softwares are happy.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

That makes sense to an extent, but sounds like it leaves a big, unorganized mess in the downloads folder.

[–] YoSoySnekBoi@kbin.earth 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Assuming your filenames are unique, you can just run a recursive search for the file on your whole music library:

find /path/to/search -type f -name "filename.ext"

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Since OP mentoned SoulSeek, they may want to consider putting each download in a directory under the username they got it from and keeping their directory structure. Sort of like a URL.

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

You could write a bash script to move the file from the download folder to the music library too.

Haven't done any bash scripting in a minute so sorry if this is off, but you get the gist:

For files in /path/downloads/*; do mv "$files" /path/musiclibrary/; done

You can also output a list of all the files in your music library with ls -alR /path/musiclibrary >> /downlaods/musiclibrary if you want a list

Which you can grep for a file name to check if it's there

[–] sefra1@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

Amazing some people actually memorise that, I just abuse pipes and

find /path/ | grep file

[–] florge@feddit.uk 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I use beets.io to manage my music. Once you've got it set up, you can just search for stuff with beet ls

[–] PumpkinDrama@reddthat.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The music was just an example, what about movies, books, etc.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago

Most people use Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr for that.

[–] guy@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago

Can't you just search whatever files you're sharing to see if you have it?

[–] speq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

I would keep track of them in Tellico, it is designed for this purpose.

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 week ago

Can't you just use fsearch on all drives?