Linux GUI Tools Easier? Not Always.
Came across an article on how to backup Ubuntu/Debian and related distro package lists, settings, icons and themes Seemed like a useful article, so I skimmed it.
It was about 20 pgs of text and 26 images. Is that really easier? They installed a GUI app that is completely redundant and harder to automate. I would be embarrassed. Way to make something simple, seem really hard.
How to do this with normal backups?
- Backup /etc/ – this gets all the system settings
- Run dpgk —get-selections > /path/to/backup – this gets the list of installed packages
- Backup /usr/share/icons and /usr/share/themes – this gets the system level icons and themes.
- Backup your $HOME – this gets personal themes, icons, settings
See – I didn’t need 20 pgs and 26 images and my method can be automated as part of a normal backup technique./ I would merge all the backup stuff into a single command and just store the list-o-packages into a specific folder I was already backing up to capture it too. Gee – this is what I already do., automatically, nightly.
In my 20+ yrs using UNIX/Linux, there are very few tasks where a GUI is better than a tiny script. This is just 1 example.
Their restore process is a little easier, at first look. Mine requires restoring those locations backed up, manually fixing /etc/fstab, if necessary and running dpkg —set-selections < /path/to/backup then using apt-get or aptitude to install those marked packages. All of these tools (except aptitude) are already on the system – no need to install anything special to restore.
Simple. Clearly this backup application was created by someone coming from Windows. They felt the need to build something new for a single purpose rather than take existing solutions and write a tiny script. Someone needs to teach them the UNIX-Mindset.
