I'm not terribly familiar with Linux, but there is a version of Delta Patcher compiled for Linux that just needs some gtk libs to run. I did write a static CLI mod manager compiled for Windows/Linux at one point, but bringing back that workflow is unfeasible at the moment.
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I would be redistributing source if I did that. Since patch files only contain the differences between the source and mod files and are useless without the source files, it allows me to distribute the mod without giving out someone else's code. This is one of the main reasons many mods for games opt for patches.