File and directory monitoring system Gamin is a file and directory monitoring system which allows applications to detect when a file or a directory has been added, removed or modified by somebody else. It can be used by desktops like KDE, GNOME or XFCE to have their virtual file systems keep track of changes to files and directories. For example, if a file manager displays a directory to the user, and the user removes one of the files via the command-line, gamin will notify the file manager of this change so that it can update the directory display. Gamin has been designed as a drop-in replacement for FAM with security and maintainability in mind and can use Linux's advanced inotify service when available.