findutils

Findutils is a GNU software package that provides a set of tools for locating files in a filesystem. The package includes four programs: find, locate, updatedb, and xargs. The find command searches a directory hierarchy for files and applies tests, actions, and expressions. It can filter by name, type, size, modification time, permissions, and other attributes, and can print results, execute commands, or perform actions on matches. Locate offers fast file lookup by querying a prebuilt index created by updatedb. Because the index is not updated in real time, locate may not reflect recent changes until the index is refreshed. Updatedb builds or updates the file index used by locate, typically by scanning the filesystem. Xargs reads input and builds command lines, enabling efficient handling of large sets of files by passing them to other programs.

Findutils is part of the GNU project and is widely available on Unix-like systems. It is released under the GNU General Public License, which ensures access to source code and the freedom to modify and redistribute. Typical usage includes commands such as find /home -name '*.txt' -print, locate libc.so, updatedb followed by locate, or using xargs to parallelize operations. The suite emphasizes flexibility and scriptability, supporting complex expressions and good integration into automated workflows. Overall, findutils provides essential file discovery capabilities that complement other system administration and scripting tasks.