[sf-lug] Backups are important

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Asheesh Laroia (asheesh at asheesh.org):

> It's easy enough to have backup software that says:
> 
> "In case of emergency on your main drive, where you think your backup 
> drive still works, do these steps:
> 
> 1. Plug your backup drive into someone else's computer
> 2. Run our graphical backup tool to browse your bacukps' content

I've frequently been in situations having to do bare-metal (or other)
restores where that would be not feasible or helpful, or at best would
slow down the process badly and require additional hardware and software
that were otherwise not necessary or useful.

> 1. Install Ubuntu on your computer (or new drive)

Wow, I have to install an entire OS and desktop environment just so I
can do a simple restore?  Are you paying my consulting rate for my extra
time spent on each such machine (two-hour minimum)?  Are you also going
to reimburse the other costs of my additional downtime?

> So Rick, tell me what's wrong with GUIs, then?

This would be an easier question to answer if I held, let alone
expressed, the view that something is "wrong with GUIs".

However, if you need help flogging that straw man, please do let me know. 
;->

(X11's cool.  How would I get xterm without it?)

> I'm happy to explain why I'm happy with my remote hard disk + rsync backup 
> setup from other people on the list who are interested in such setups;

rsync is a great tool.  By the way, how many generations of backup do
you keep, and are they housed in a building distant from the one that
houses the machine itself?  (You'd feel a little sheepish if the same
fire, smoke, or water damage, or the same thief, got both at once.)