I'v had a tough time coming up with a reason I would want to compare files...at least on a regular basis. In regards to chmod, the value of this command is self-evident for file integrity, file sharing, etc. However, I notice that a lot of the regular UNIX users use the absolute form, vice the simplified one. Which do you prefer and why? Is this another "experts prefer the more complex, but more streamlined way" type of situation? In terms of more and less, I have read that they close to the same thing, excepting for the fact that less does not need to read the entire file before displaying the first page of content - making it faster with big files.

--