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I run KDE Neon on a NUC, and have toyed with the idea of using it on my main desktop for some time now since I rather enjoy it. However two points keep me from

I run KDE Neon on a NUC, and have toyed with the idea of using it on my main desktop for some time now since I rather enjoy it. However two points keep me from moving over. First is the lack of any good RDP alternative for remote desktop sessions. Nothing I've found so far for Linux is close. Second is full-disk backups. This has saved my ass a few times over the years, and the ability to be back in action in 30 minutes with minimal loss after a disk crash is something I don't want to be without. Thanks to the Volume Shadow Copy[1] service, the cloning can be online and done in the background while I use the machine. I know ZFS on root would get me close, allowing me to send snapshots to a backup server, but as much as I like ZFS it's a complicated beast and I see too many issues on the mailing list to feel comfortable doing that. That said, the list is getting shorter each year, so maybe one day soon. [1]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/file-server/volume-shadow-copy-service https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/fil...

prmoustache 3y ago
> Second is full-disk backups. This has saved my ass a few times over the years, and the ability to be back in action in 30 minutes with minimal loss after a disk crash is something I don't want to be without. Thanks to the Volume Shadow Copy[1] service, the cloning can be online and done in the background while I use the machine. I am surprised. I may have had to restore only one computer in a decade because of a hard drive failure. I think full disc backup is rarely seen on linux systems because the system itself make it so easy to reinstall the way it was. The only thing I really need to backup to be able to reinstall quickly my fedora is: - the list of rpm groups and packages that are installed - the list of flatpak apps that are installed - a backup of my homedir - a tarball of /etc - a kickstart file describing the installation, partitionning, etc. You don't even need a pxe + tftp server to install from kickstart, just a netinstall iso image and you can pass the `ip=dhcp` and `ks=http://somelocalip/ks.cfg http://somelocalip/ks.cfg` network parameters at boot to initiate install It may take a bit more than 30 minutes to reinstall + restoring /home and /etc but you are rolling up again quite quickly. In fact I have tested it much more than I have needed it.
- magicalhippo 3y ago
  I lost years of work to an IBM Deathstar[1], after which I learned the value of backups. Since then I've had two more disks fail on me, both early SSDs. The ability to be back up and running quickly has been essential both times. Though I've upgraded disks multiple times by cloning to the new drive, very smooth so that's a nice bonus. The main thing is that's so simple. There's one thing to remember, and I get back exactly what I had. Having to manually curate a list of things to back up is exactly what I want to avoid, since I might miss something important and only know when it's too late. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskstar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskstar
  - prmoustache 3y ago
    Well ultimately only my homedir is important. The rest (package list, /etc, partitionning) is just for convenience and speeding up the recovery process but it is never critical. Full disk recovery was very useful when computers were offline but nowadays you can install apps so quickly you can do it on demand really. I've been in situations where I would switch from one computer to another and I would just copy the homedir. The apps are just installed whenever I need them. Oh needs git, awscli or kubectl? 30s later all are installed and in use.

prmoustache 3y ago

> Second is full-disk backups. This has saved my ass a few times over the years, and the ability to be back in action in 30 minutes with minimal loss after a disk crash is something I don't want to be without. Thanks to the Volume Shadow Copy[1] service, the cloning can be online and done in the background while I use the machine. I am surprised. I may have had to restore only one computer in a decade because of a hard drive failure. I think full disc backup is rarely seen on linux systems because the system itself make it so easy to reinstall the way it was. The only thing I really need to backup to be able to reinstall quickly my fedora is: - the list of rpm groups and packages that are installed - the list of flatpak apps that are installed - a backup of my homedir - a tarball of /etc - a kickstart file describing the installation, partitionning, etc. You don't even need a pxe + tftp server to install from kickstart, just a netinstall iso image and you can pass the `ip=dhcp` and `ks=http://somelocalip/ks.cfg http://somelocalip/ks.cfg` network parameters at boot to initiate install It may take a bit more than 30 minutes to reinstall + restoring /home and /etc but you are rolling up again quite quickly. In fact I have tested it much more than I have needed it.

magicalhippo 3y ago
I lost years of work to an IBM Deathstar[1], after which I learned the value of backups. Since then I've had two more disks fail on me, both early SSDs. The ability to be back up and running quickly has been essential both times. Though I've upgraded disks multiple times by cloning to the new drive, very smooth so that's a nice bonus. The main thing is that's so simple. There's one thing to remember, and I get back exactly what I had. Having to manually curate a list of things to back up is exactly what I want to avoid, since I might miss something important and only know when it's too late. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskstar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskstar
- prmoustache 3y ago
  Well ultimately only my homedir is important. The rest (package list, /etc, partitionning) is just for convenience and speeding up the recovery process but it is never critical. Full disk recovery was very useful when computers were offline but nowadays you can install apps so quickly you can do it on demand really. I've been in situations where I would switch from one computer to another and I would just copy the homedir. The apps are just installed whenever I need them. Oh needs git, awscli or kubectl? 30s later all are installed and in use.