Re: [PLUG] non-nerdy ... a non-rant

[zuzu <sean.zuzu@gmail.com>]

On 10/26/07, Matthew Rosewarne <mrosewarne@inoutbox.com> wrote:
> On Friday 26 October 2007, jeff wrote:
> > With my chosen OS, the experience was different.  There was no easy
> > selection in *any* of the programs, regardless of gui/cli.  Some require
> > you to specify dirs on the cli or put together a text file of dirs/files
> >  to back up.  I had to figure out the entire paradigm of lin backing up
> > and figure out what might work best for me.  I gave up on feel early and
> > kinda got frustrated, settling on something that might work and spending
> > what I consider too much time making it work.
>
> I've hit the exact same wall.  I would expect the reason there aren't
> easy-to-use backup programs is the relative lack of use of Linux by
> non-technical desktop users.  I used to use Keep, and while it does work, I
> found it to be very poorly designed.  In the end, I gave up and used what
> Keep used as its backend, rdiff-backup.  It's a shame, since Keep is so
> close, but would probably need a rewrite to make it truly usable.
>

love or hate Jamie Zawinski's demeanor, his backup rant is an
excellent slice of pragmatic advice:

http://jwz.livejournal.com/801607.html

Dear Lazyweb, and also a certain you-know-who-you-are who should
certainly know better by now,

I am here to tell you about backups. It's very simple.

Option 1: Learn not to care about your data. Don't save any old email,
use a film camera, and only listen to physical CDs and not MP3s. If
you have no possessions, you have nothing to lose.

Option 2 goes like this:

    * You have a computer. It came with a hard drive in it. Go buy two
more drives of the same size or larger. If the drive in your computer
is SATA2, get SATA2. If it's a 2.5" laptop drive, get two of those.
Brand doesn't matter, but physical measurements and connectors should
match.

    * Get external enclosures for both of them. The enclosures are under $30.

    * Put one of these drives in its enclosure on your desk. Name it
something clever like "Backup". If you are using a Mac, the command
you use to back up is this:

      sudo rsync -vaxE --delete --ignore-errors / /Volumes/Backup/

      If you're using Linux, it's something a lot like that. If you're
using Windows, go fuck yourself.

    * If you have a desktop computer, have this happen every morning
at 5AM by creating a temporary text file containing this line:

      0 5 * * * rsync -vaxE --delete --ignore-errors / /Volumes/Backup/

      and then doing sudo crontab -u root that-file

      If you have a laptop, do that before you go to bed. Really.
Every night when you plug your laptop in to charge.

    * If you're on a Mac, that backup drive will be bootable. That
means that when (WHEN) your internal drive scorches itself, you can
just take your backup drive and put it in your computer and go. This
is nice.

    * When (WHEN) your backup drive goes bad, which you will notice
because your last backup failed, replace it immediately. This is your
number one priority. Don't wait until the weekend when you have time,
do it now, before you so much as touch your computer again. Do it
before goddamned breakfast. The universe tends toward maximum irony.
Don't push it.

    * That third drive? Do a backup onto it the same way, then take
that to your office and lock it in a desk. Every few months, bring it
home, do a backup, and immediately take it away again. This is your
"my house burned down" backup.

"OMG, three drives is so expensive! That sounds like a hassle!" Shut
up. I know things. You will listen to me. Do it anyway.
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