linux diff tools: create list of modified files

You can use the diff toool: see the options -q and -r

-q  --brief
Output only whether files differ.

-r  --recursive
Recursively compare any subdirectories found.

Example:

diff -qr dir1 dir2

I`ve got a simple approach for this: Use the rsync-preview mode:

rsync -aHSvn --delete old_dir/ new-dir/

The files that are shown as "to be deleted" by that command will be the "new" files. The others that are to be transferred have changed in some way. See the rsync-man-page for further details.

The diffutils package includes a lsdiff tool. Just pass the output of diff -u to lsdiff:

diff -u --other-diff-options path1 path2 | lsdiff