reuse

Lint for REUSE compliance for the current project (version control aware)

$ reuse lint

$ reuse --root [path/to/directory] lint

$ reuse annotate [[-c|--copyright]] "[your_name] <[your_email]>" --fallback-dot-license [path/to/file]

$ reuse annotate [[-l|--license]] [spdx_identifier] --fallback-dot-license [path/to/file]

$ reuse download [spdx-identifier]

$ reuse download --all

reuse source_file destination_file

source_file
    The path to the file you want to copy.

destination_file
    The destination path where the copied file will be created. This can be a file or a directory.

The reuse command is a shell utility designed to copy files while meticulously preserving their metadata. This goes beyond a simple file copy by maintaining attributes like file ownership, permissions, timestamps (access, modification, and change), and extended attributes (xattrs) where supported. Unlike the standard cp command which can sometimes drop or alter certain metadata aspects, reuse aims for a more complete and faithful reproduction of the original file's state. It's particularly useful in scenarios where maintaining the integrity and lineage of files is critical, such as backups, system administration tasks involving user configuration files, or forensic analysis. The command is often part of specialized security or data management toolsets.

While implementations may vary, reuse typically relies on lower-level system calls like chown, chmod, utime, and setxattr to manipulate the metadata of the copied file. The command ensures metadata is maintained even if user has necessary privileges.

The reuse command might require elevated privileges (root or sudo) to accurately replicate ownership, especially if the user running the command doesn't own the source file. Error handling might be limited in some implementations.

A key feature of reuse is its handling of extended attributes (xattrs). Xattrs are name/value pairs associated with files, providing a mechanism for storing additional metadata beyond standard attributes like permissions and timestamps. If the underlying filesystem supports xattrs, reuse should copy these attributes to the destination file. Use getfattr and setfattr to see available attributes.

The thoroughness of error handling can vary between implementations. A robust reuse command will check for common errors such as insufficient permissions, invalid file paths, or filesystem limitations and provide informative error messages. However, simpler implementations might simply fail silently in some cases.

cp(1), chown(1), chmod(1), stat(1), touch(1), setfattr(1), getfattr(1)