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> they should have figured out a way to back that stuff up. That's incredibly naive. Not everyone has a Comp-Sci degree. Not all specialised programs will allo

> they should have figured out a way to back that stuff up. That's incredibly naive. Not everyone has a Comp-Sci degree. Not all specialised programs will allow users access to the data easily. Even if they do, the student/staff may not be knowledgeable enough to back it up. The data may be multiple gigabytes in size or greater... There are lots of reasons why local data exists like this.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago
It really sucks for them no doubt. Both windows and Mac have incredibly easy ways to do backups to an external hard drive. Literally just plug in the hard drive and not think about it. If it wasn’t this issue it would have been something else, like getting up at the coffee shop and having your laptop stolen.
- alexmcc81 6y ago
  > Literally just plug in the hard drive and not think about it. First you have to know that utility exists. Will most biology students know about Windows Backup? I doubt it. Even if they do, they're using a college administered PC. Backups are not their concern. They probably won't have permission to set it up even if they want to. In the article the staff member doesn't have permission to install the applications they need on their desktop PC.
  - loopz 6y ago
    Everyone had to learn this lesson. Just copy the files somewhere from time to time. I've had cloud providers nuke my disk intentionally, then demand I upgrade $$$ to get access to backup. Backups do fail, get corrupted or are incomplete.
    - Griffinsauce 6y ago
      Did you even read the thread? Lots of this data is not trivially copyable or even obvious to find.
      - loopz 6y ago
        Yes I did. Of course there was a screw-up. Maybe people can bring back backups, maybe not. This is nothing new and the devil is in the details. It could just as likely've been a flood, fire, short-circuit and everything else. Nevertheless, data inevitably gets erased. It's part of the data management lifecycle. If data is non-trivial to backup or obvious to find, it must not be very valuable to those who own the data. Think about it. Not deleting data, you might even become criminally liable, according to privacy laws like GDPR. So while this stuff isn't as clear-cut, stable and easy as it should be (we agree there), people must keep their data with them, if the data is valuable to them. I don't see any way forward laying blame on others for the rest of one's life. That's no way to live. This is why one implements data and IT governance. Ownership is with the user.
        db48x 6y ago
        I agree. If you're spending years getting a PhD, and losing the data would put that degree in jeopardy, then it's definitely on you to ensure that the data you collect can't be lost. It's a necessary skill of being a scientist, just like keeping accurate lab notebooks, doing statistics, and everything else. If nobody taught you how to do this, you'll just have to learn it yourself.
        loopz 6y ago
        Yes, and if people make mistakes, it's most often (99.99%) not out of spite. However, it can be profitable to not undo the mistake, and the workers have no say what is negotiated in the contract.

ed25519FUUU 6y ago

It really sucks for them no doubt. Both windows and Mac have incredibly easy ways to do backups to an external hard drive. Literally just plug in the hard drive and not think about it. If it wasn’t this issue it would have been something else, like getting up at the coffee shop and having your laptop stolen.

alexmcc81 6y ago
> Literally just plug in the hard drive and not think about it. First you have to know that utility exists. Will most biology students know about Windows Backup? I doubt it. Even if they do, they're using a college administered PC. Backups are not their concern. They probably won't have permission to set it up even if they want to. In the article the staff member doesn't have permission to install the applications they need on their desktop PC.
- loopz 6y ago
  Everyone had to learn this lesson. Just copy the files somewhere from time to time. I've had cloud providers nuke my disk intentionally, then demand I upgrade $$$ to get access to backup. Backups do fail, get corrupted or are incomplete.
  - Griffinsauce 6y ago
    Did you even read the thread? Lots of this data is not trivially copyable or even obvious to find.
    - loopz 6y ago
      Yes I did. Of course there was a screw-up. Maybe people can bring back backups, maybe not. This is nothing new and the devil is in the details. It could just as likely've been a flood, fire, short-circuit and everything else. Nevertheless, data inevitably gets erased. It's part of the data management lifecycle. If data is non-trivial to backup or obvious to find, it must not be very valuable to those who own the data. Think about it. Not deleting data, you might even become criminally liable, according to privacy laws like GDPR. So while this stuff isn't as clear-cut, stable and easy as it should be (we agree there), people must keep their data with them, if the data is valuable to them. I don't see any way forward laying blame on others for the rest of one's life. That's no way to live. This is why one implements data and IT governance. Ownership is with the user.
      - db48x 6y ago
        I agree. If you're spending years getting a PhD, and losing the data would put that degree in jeopardy, then it's definitely on you to ensure that the data you collect can't be lost. It's a necessary skill of being a scientist, just like keeping accurate lab notebooks, doing statistics, and everything else. If nobody taught you how to do this, you'll just have to learn it yourself.
        loopz 6y ago
        Yes, and if people make mistakes, it's most often (99.99%) not out of spite. However, it can be profitable to not undo the mistake, and the workers have no say what is negotiated in the contract.