Doesn't notice if a file is deleted outright

Start by reproducing the deletion case with sudo dnf diff example-tool and the more specific file path shown in the report. Compare the output before and after removing /etc/example.conf; done means the deleted file is reported with its full contents, matching the demonstrated git diff behavior.

If I have a package example-tool installed that owns a file /etc/example.conf, then any edits I make to /etc/example.conf will be shown when running sudo dnf diff example-tool. (Or the more specific sudo dnf diff example-tool /etc/example.conf.)

But not so, if the file is deleted outright:

$ sudo sh -c "echo '\n# Additional config\n' >> /etc/example.conf"
$ sudo dnf diff example-tool
--- /etc/example.conf	2025-09-18 04:59:46.000000000 -0400
+++ /etc/example.conf	2026-03-21 14:12:59.628137746 -0400
@@ -150,3 +150,4 @@
 stuff stuff stuff
+
+# Additional config
+

$ sudo rm /etc/example.conf
$ sudo dnf diff example-tool
Updating and loading repositories:
Repositories loaded.
No changes in 'example-tool'.

Seems like it should emulate git in that scenario, and show the entire file's contents as deleted:

$ mkdir -p /tmp/deletion-test
$ cd /tmp/deletion-test
$ git init
$ cp /etc/os-release .
$ git add os-release
$ git commit -m "import"
$ rm os-release
$ git diff
diff --git a/os-release b/os-release
deleted file mode 100644
index dafa4f4..0000000
--- a/os-release
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-NAME="Fedora Linux"
-VERSION="43 (Forty Three)"
-RELEASE_TYPE=stable
-ID=fedora
-VERSION_ID=43
-VERSION_CODENAME=""
-PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux 43 (Forty Three)"
-ANSI_COLOR="0;38;2;60;110;180"
-LOGO=fedora-logo-icon
-CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:43"
-DEFAULT_HOSTNAME="fedora"
-HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"
-DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/f43/"
-SUPPORT_URL="https://ask.fedoraproject.org/"
-BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
-REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Fedora"
-REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=43
-REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Fedora"
-REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION=43
-SUPPORT_END=2026-12-02