If you want to copy a directory recursively and preserve exact file timestamps, ownerships, and permissions you can do an on-the-fly tar:
cd source-directory tar cf - . | (cd destination-directory; tar xf -)
If you want to copy a directory recursively and preserve exact file timestamps, ownerships, and permissions you can do an on-the-fly tar:
cd source-directory tar cf - . | (cd destination-directory; tar xf -)