Bug 507502

Summary:	[Git master] Filelight doesn't ignore hardlinks, bloating displayed directory size
Product:	[Applications] filelight	Reporter:	Kyle Devir <kyle.devir>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Unassigned bugs <unassigned-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED DUPLICATE
Severity:	normal	CC:	kyle.devir, martin.sandsmark, sitter
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Compiled Sources
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments:	Filelight hardlink visual

Description Kyle Devir 2025-07-26 05:08:06 UTC

SUMMARY
When scanning files, Filelight treats every hardlinked file as its own file, rather than skipping it, thereby bloating directory sizes

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Choose directory with big enough file
2. Hardlink it in the same directory
3. Scan with Filelight
4. Observe same file size being shown twice

OBSERVED RESULT
Filelight naively displays hardlinked files as being separate from the original

EXPECTED RESULT
Filelight skips over hardlinked files, just like it does symbolic ones

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.80
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.1
Kernel Version: 6.16.0-rc7-1-custom-bcachefs-git-00206-gcc77913e2b7d (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland

Comment 1 Harald Sitter 2025-07-26 15:37:19 UTC

Cannot reproduce.

Comment 2 Kyle Devir 2025-07-27 05:35:25 UTC

Created attachment 183555 [details]
Filelight hardlink visual

Comment 3 Kyle Devir 2025-07-27 05:36:12 UTC

(In reply to Harald Sitter from comment #1)
> Cannot reproduce.

Attached an example of what I'm referring to. The 126GB file in the base directory is a hardlink of the one in the dlc directory.

Comment 4 Harald Sitter 2025-07-27 08:37:53 UTC

So the hardlink is not in the same directory?

Comment 5 Kyle Devir 2025-07-27 11:06:33 UTC

(In reply to Harald Sitter from comment #4)
> So the hardlink is not in the same directory?

Oops. I thought it was when I initially made the bug report...

But at least it's clearer now that it doesn't skip the hardlinks if they're in a different folder.

Comment 6 Harald Sitter 2025-07-27 11:15:07 UTC


*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 501110 ***