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Ubuntu's backup thing (duplicity?) does something like this too. I can right-click in a directory and restore deleted files, or on a file and view previous vers

Ubuntu's backup thing (duplicity?) does something like this too. I can right-click in a directory and restore deleted files, or on a file and view previous versions. One suggestion for the author of that webpage, and a common complaint I have with open source software websites in general: tell us what your software does. I haven't used a mac, I don't know what features time machine has in any sort of detail so telling me it's a clone is pretty useless. Give a one-or-two sentence saying what it does, and then some bullet points of key features. There's more description of the name than there is of the functionality.

paines 7y ago
In the past, duplicity would not save dot files or dot directories, e.g. .config/, .emacs, .local/, so many settings would be lost or not saved. No idea if they addressed it meanwhile, but back then it was a show stopper for me. Lost some of my steam savegames :-p
mynegation 7y ago
Duplicity works by making a full backup and then series of incremental backups based on it. Eventually you can make another full backup and new series, but you cannot delete full or incremental backup without rendering whole series corrupt. In Time Machine (and - I presume - this software), if you delete a backup checkpoint for a specific date you lose only file changes captured by that checkpoint, but state of the backup at the checkpoints before and after remain intact.
- ric2b 7y ago
  I believe the correct name for what time-machine does is differential backups. Instead of doing a full backup and then having a chain of incremental backups, each differential backup stores all the differences from the full backup, so they are much larger but it allows you to delete previous differential backups.
CathedralBorrow 7y ago
One of my guiding principles in UX is pretty much this. Be explicit about describing the thing that you are talking about. Then make it even more explicit.
happymellon 7y ago
What I would like is something similar but for my local zfs/btrfs disks. Copy snapshots to an external drive, but the issue I have more often than not would be deleted/overwrittem files rather than damaged disks which regular snapshots would resolve. I don't always have access to my NAS.

paines 7y ago

In the past, duplicity would not save dot files or dot directories, e.g. .config/, .emacs, .local/, so many settings would be lost or not saved. No idea if they addressed it meanwhile, but back then it was a show stopper for me. Lost some of my steam savegames :-p

mynegation 7y ago

Duplicity works by making a full backup and then series of incremental backups based on it. Eventually you can make another full backup and new series, but you cannot delete full or incremental backup without rendering whole series corrupt. In Time Machine (and - I presume - this software), if you delete a backup checkpoint for a specific date you lose only file changes captured by that checkpoint, but state of the backup at the checkpoints before and after remain intact.

ric2b 7y ago
I believe the correct name for what time-machine does is differential backups. Instead of doing a full backup and then having a chain of incremental backups, each differential backup stores all the differences from the full backup, so they are much larger but it allows you to delete previous differential backups.

CathedralBorrow 7y ago

One of my guiding principles in UX is pretty much this. Be explicit about describing the thing that you are talking about. Then make it even more explicit.

happymellon 7y ago

What I would like is something similar but for my local zfs/btrfs disks. Copy snapshots to an external drive, but the issue I have more often than not would be deleted/overwrittem files rather than damaged disks which regular snapshots would resolve. I don't always have access to my NAS.