Basic hygiene regarding OS?

Hello!

I’m new on the forum but have been using Endeavour for close to a year now.
As most others I started my journey on Ubuntu but after a year I took the plunge and tried Endeavour. That was a great decision.

Anyway. To my question.
Basic hygene on a Linux system.
I’ve gotten most things I can think of done but looking for more ideas.

I’ve got:
Backups set up (using Timeshift - good enough for me)
Got both LTS (as fallback) and regular kernel installed
Got all my dotfiles in a repo on github
Got the latest ISO of Endeavour (and Arch for that matter) on a bootable USB

It feels like I should have something more, but what?

Setup the sysrq ASAP. It’s one of the first things I do on every install.

And check out the welcome thread for valuable info.

And welcome!

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Regular system maintenance is necessary for the proper functioning of Arch over a period of time. Timely maintenance is a practice many users get accustomed to.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Maintenance

Timeshift is a system snapshot tool, not a backup tool. Do not use it for backup, or it will bite you in the butt. The official Timeshift documentation is pretty clear about that, it explicitly warns people against using Timeshift for making backups.

If you want backup, consider this:

Good idea. Try running LTS, if everything works, no need to use the mainline one (but keep it installed, just in case).

If you like Micro$oft having your dotfiles, sure. Personally, I see no point in doing this.

Good idea. It doesn’t have to be the latest one, just one you can boot from and chroot if necessary.

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Timeshift is a system snapshot tool, not a backup tool. Do not use it for backup, or it will bite you in the butt. The official Timeshift documentation is pretty clear about that, it explicitly warns people against using Timeshift for making backups.
If you want backup, consider this:

So, what you’re basically saying is that “don’t backup”.
I’ve read the post and I already do this when it comes to stuff I really don’t want to loose. Timeshift is just for the system, if something goes bad I’ve got the option to just rollback to a working situation.

Good idea. Try running LTS, if everything works, no need to use the mainline one (but keep it installed, just in case).

Meaning I should use the LTS rather than the mainline? Any particular reason? (apart from being more stable - that’s obvious).

If you like Micro$oft having your dotfiles, sure. Personally, I see no point in doing this.

You see no point in keeping the dotfiles or having them on github?
I mean, keeping them just cuts down on the work if I have to reinstall.

Good idea. It doesn’t have to be the latest one, just one you can boot from and chroot if necessary.

This is true. Just making sure that it still works from time to time is probably a good idea though.

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I have used Linux for 20+ years. I have a degree in IT. I understand backups, we even did it on offsite tapes in the day.
I don’t have any issues with timeshift as a backup tool in the form of snapshots. I prefer users I support learn how to use it . It has saved me a lot of time and headache.

I backup my own systems once per day. I have 5 copies of my root partition and dot files in home on a separate drive. If I decide to mess up a config file, I have a backup I can copy right back. It has saved me on a rare occasion. If I delete something by accident from command line, I have a backup copy I can copy right back. Funny, because the link to timshift posted says this:
“Supports scheduled snapshots, multiple backup levels, and exclude filters.”
I don’t need to learn how to fix every little thing that can go wrong on an Arch system. Sometimes it is just better to roll back and see if it occurs again. Especially with an update. Telling another user that is already using it that they do not need it and to forget about it?. Maybe you do not need it but other users find it very useful. The program has a purpose and was written for a reason. I see no reason to broadly discount it.

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Yeah, I’ve read that page a few times and I’m on top of that in my routine. I rather meant stuff that I need to install or configure in the system more that having good routines.

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:man_facepalming:

No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying, do not use Timeshift as a backup tool (because restoring a snapshot will destroy your data). Timeshift is a system restore tool, not a backup tool. Read Timeshift documentation.

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Clearly, you don’t. Read the Timeshift documentation:

Specifically, this part:

User Data is Excluded by Default

Timeshift is designed to protect system files and settings. It is NOT a backup tool and is not meant to protect user data. Entire contents of users’ home directories are excluded by default. This has two advantages:

  • You don’t need to worry about your documents getting overwritten when you restore a previous snapshot to recover the system.
  • Your music and video collection in your home directory will not waste space on the backup device.

You can selectively include items for backup from the Settings window. Selecting the option “Include hidden items” from the Users tab will backup and restore the .hidden files and directories in your home folder. These folders contain user-specific config files and can be included in snapshots if required.

Note: It is not recommended to include user data in backups as it will be overwritten when you restore the snapshot.

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“It feels like I should have something more, but what?”
That is an open ended question. Why do you feel you should have something more? If your system works for you at the moment, you are probably not lacking anything. Maybe you are just bored with it. I am sure you that in time if you feel the need for something specific, you will find the right tool for it.

No, I don’t. And yes I do. I don’t need to re-read it. I have even read the source code many times. Save your attitude and hatred for Timeshift for someone else.

If you think I hate Timeshift, your lack of comprehension is astonishing. There is no hatred for Timeshift at all, it’s a perfectly adequate tool for what it does. Which is taking system snapshots, not making a backup of user data. The problem arises when people misuse it and lose data because of it.

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I include user data for a reason. Maybe you don’t understand it, but I don’t have to explain it you.

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It’s your system, you can do whatever you want with it.

It’s irresponsible, however, to recommend bad practices to users who don’t know any better.

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I appologize.

I used the word “backup” casually. I know that timeshift does not create full backups such as for example borg backups. I also do not use timeshift for backups.

Let’s just drop that entire conversation that cropped up from my mistake. I do not want to create a controversy here. :slight_smile:

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No need to apologise. Just clearing things up, because Timeshift can be used for backup (and many do use it, and get surprised when they restore a snapshot and have their data overwritten and destroyed). It’s a misuse, the developers warn you against it, and you shouldn’t be doing it.

Of course, nobody cares if you do, it’s your system. It’s just a friendly warning.

That’s a smart move.

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I was mostly looking for things that are “basic hygene” that I might have missed.

I have had a few of these as points to fix (saving dotfiles, installing LTS kernel etc) and have slowly sorted them out.

My system works fine and I have no more things to fix that I can see but as I’ve only used Linux for a bit over a year I’m thinking that I might have missed something.

I am not an idiot. I understand that it does snapshots and restoring snapshots will roll back everything to a snapshot point. And I am not irresponsible. You can stop your name calling. Rude! It does keep backups in the form of duplicates on a separate drive. Or snapshots if you want to restore roll back everything at once. Not usually necessary.

I think if you managed to keep it up and running for a year and know how to keep duplicate copies of files (dare I say backups) and snapshots, you are right where you need to be after a year. Arch is a wild ride and always updating. I don’t think you are missing anything.

Hello and welcome to

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:enos_flag: :handshake:t5:

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