So with echo >> file , you get one byte written to the file. If the file already existed, then it would have one byte added to it, because you used >> (append) instead of > (overwrite). touch creates a file if it didn't already exist, and updates the timestamps on it otherwise.

What is touching a file?

Summary. Sometimes it is necessary to update a files timestamp without changing the content (e.g. replacing a . dll file). This operation is called "touching" and there is even a command called touch for use on Linux systems.

What is echo command used for?

Echo is a Unix/Linux command tool used for displaying lines of text or string which are passed as arguments on the command line. This is one of the basic command in linux and most commonly used in shell scripts.