Roger C. Scudder Jr. on Thu, 15 Jul 1999 20:27:03 -0400 (EDT)


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Re: [Plug] Distritubtion Question


This touches on the main criticism of the PC in general, that they are too
hard to use.  I have mixed feelings about this issue.  On one hand I think
it is up to the user to have enough common sense to consider the
possibility of loosing their work and to learn how to keep that from
happening.  On the other hand I realize that for many, just turning it one
and using one or two programs is an accomplishment.

I think you have a good point that Linux novices will not know what files
to backup.  But this is not the only thing to consider when it comes to
learning Linux.  Ease of setup and configuration is very important.  From
everything that I have read Debian is rather difficult in that respect.
Your family obviously has the advantage of having, a professional
computer consultant handy.  :-)


Roger Scudder

On Thu, 15 Jul 1999, LeRoy D. Cressy wrote:

> I am in complete agreement with you about backups and the such, but how
> many new windows refugees out there know about backing up the /etc
> directory and portions of /var?  A huge number of windows users that are
> not in the corporate world don't know about backing up a system or even
> where their own local files are on the hd let alone system configuration
> files.  
> 
> Some of my family who have now started using Linux find it a real joy
> that their local files are in the /home directory and that whatever
> program that they use will always put their documents in the home
> directory by default.  An example when my mother was using 95, each
> program defaulted to its own directory where to put created files.  She
> didn't know where quicken, wordperfect, msword, and all the other
> programs put created files which made backup almost impossible for her. 
> Now that she is using Linux, a new writable cd in the drive on Sunday
> takes care of her backup needs.  In fact she just leaces a blank disk in
> the drive at all times and the machine does its ``thing'' without the
> user having to manually backup the system and personal files.
> 
> Roger C. Scudder Jr. wrote:
> > 
> > LeRoy...
> >  I am a big believer in the value of the backup and at the same time
> > not trusting of anything that is making changes to my system in an
> > automated fashion.  Over the years I have come to expect bad things to
> > happen and to be ready when they do.  I can see your point, but at the
> > same time I would never simply trust any upgrade program to preserve
> > config files.... even if it had done so in the past. To me backing up
> > configuration files and checking for, and repairing, any unwanted
> > overwrites is all in a days work.
> > 
> 
> -- 
>           0 0      L & R Associates
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> 
> LeRoy D. Cressy     	 /\_/\		ldc@netaxs.com
> Computer Consulting 	( o.o )		Phone (215) 535-4037
> 		 	 > ^ <		Fax   (215) 535-4285
> 
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