Best Backup software for Ubuntu 8.10

[Robert Parker]

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 6:12 PM, Thorny <thorntreehome at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:50:59 +0700, Robert Parker posted:
>
>> On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 8:12 AM, Robert Holtzman <holtzm at cox.net> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 2 Apr 2009, Derek Broughton wrote:
>>
>>>> rsync is a low-level utility, it's not a backup application.
>>>
>>> I've seen that statement or one similar a few times. Could you point me
>>> to a doc(s) that explains the drawbacks of using it for backups in a
>>> little more detail?
>>
>> It's fairly obvious if you take a few seconds to think about what you
>> want from a backup.
>
> The only thing that is fairly obvious to me is that you've described what
> *you* want from a backup. Not all wants/needs are necessarily the same.
> And, what you want is available through the proper use of rsync.
>

Well I do want to recover from the consequences of an accidental
deletion or later undesired alteration of a file. Anyone who does not
want that is perfectly free to take actions that do not allow that.


>
>> 1. Do you want to retrieve the state of DocumentA from 3 days ago?
>> Nothing in rsync to allow that.
>> 2. Do you want to retrieve DocumentB that you deleted yesterday? If you
>> used rsync with the --delete option since too bad rsync has done what
>> you wanted and deleted the copy in your mirror.
>>
>>
>
> Using the -b option you would have copies of preexisting files and they
> would be protected from the --delete. So yes, rsync can allow what you
> describe. It has to be configured to do so.

Glad you pointed that out, thank you.

>
> In addition, if you followed a common backup strategy you would have
> multiple copies of your backup, rotated on a time schedule that fits your
> situation, then you'd have what many backup solutions offer.

Of course.
>
> But, as Derek stated it's a utility, rsync is not some GUI that lets you
> click, click and done. And. as Chris pointed out, the manual page needs to
> be consulted.

Since when was a backup utility required to be a GUI? Though many are.