To get rid of double duplicate files in a directory on a Linux system, you can use the fdupes utility.
fdupes is a command-line tool for identifying and deleting duplicate files based on their contents. It can scan a directory and its subdirectories, and compare the contents of the files to determine which ones are duplicates.
To use fdupes, you will need to install it on your system. On most Linux distributions, you can install fdupes using the package manager. For example, on a Debian-based system, you can use the apt command to install fdupes:
sudo apt install fdupes
Once fdupes is installed, you can use it to scan a directory and delete duplicate files. For example, to scan the current directory and delete all double duplicate files, you can use the following command:
fdupes -d .
This command will scan the current directory (.) and delete all double duplicate files. The -d option tells fdupes to delete the duplicates, and the . specifies the directory to scan.
You can also specify a specific directory to scan, or use the -r option to scan the directory and its subdirectories recursively. For example, to scan the /etc directory and its subdirectories and delete all double duplicate files, you can use the following command:
fdupes -rd /etc
Keep in mind that fdupes is a powerful tool, and may delete files that you want to keep. Be sure to use it carefully, and make a backup of your important files before using it. For more information about using fdupes to delete duplicate files, you can consult its documentation or seek assistance from a qualified Linux administrator.