Fresh install from alternate CD

[Donn]

> But wouldn't I want to overright the default files that came with the fresh
> install with the customized versions from my backup?
Bear in mind that I am winging it here...

Rsync is my plan for my next "upgrade" (Dapper -> whatever)

I would say yes and no. Perhaps some of those files are the same format as 
they were before, but they might have changed - say from flat to xml. Hard to 
tell. I would want a list of the files that did *not* get replaced so that I 
can work through them manually (and hope it's not too long).
I am not sure how to get that list. I forsee a combination of rsync and dif in 
some arcane pipe love :)
I might also just backup *all* those files and dump the old ones in and see 
what happens - perhaps newer applications will see that the config file is 
old and will complain and start afresh. 

Not a clean-cut approach, but this stuff never is.

I sure want better ideas!

/d