I actually tried mackup a few weeks ago and had to wipe my machine because it messed up my settings so much (who would've thought backup could be such a dangero

I actually tried mackup a few weeks ago and had to wipe my machine because it messed up my settings so much (who would've thought backup could be such a dangerous command?) Cider's approach is much safer since all it does is reinstall the components & settings you've specifically allotted it to. Rather than move all your various configs and caches around in an attempt to keep them in sync (which is, IMO, subject to headaches and not worth the hassle), the whole point of Cider is to keep as little state on your machine as possible so you can stop thinking about this stuff.