We do not “Promote” Timeshift, I do add a WIKI entry on request, and as it seems a lot of users using it.
And it would be possible to include it on the ISO, but if you are using it to create backups snapshots you will already have a package on your storage too (yay cache) you can install this on life ISO with pacman -U ( should work)
We are very critical of adding apps to the ISO, as it is already 2GB big, and maintaining a package must be handled by someone using it.
I am not a fan of Timeshift, as it, a system backup snapshot system and I do not use that, I do backup only personal files and configurations.
The developer of timeshift is also creating a new BorgBackup, based tool for personal file backups, much more what would be needed here, but not packed for arch…
Among other thing, that’s why I wouldn’t want the pamac to be ever added to the ISO. Not at all because it is bad or something, that’s not the point. I just wouldn’t want EOS to ever turn into Manjaro (also a pretty good system). That’s it, just my 2 cents…
I get it that your preferred way is just backing up your home directory, but that is not ideal for me and probably a lot of users. In cases, like today where the latest QT updates are causing my KDE desktop/taskbar to crash, I would have to do a painstakingly reinstall my system, many times over, with preferences/config files and all the other intricacies involved in the setup if I just had a home folder backup. That is time consuming and a pain. I can instead use a timeshift restore and have my system completely restored and functional in less than 10 minutes…if I had a LiveCD with Timeshift on it.
Timeshift is not the only backup solution, but the idea to have such is good in my personal opinion, everyone should have a backup solution. But I would not like to limit that to timeshift only.
Just an interjection - perhaps you missed the mention of the yay cache. If you have Timeshift backups, you must have installed it once. Once you have arch-chroot’ed into your system, go to the yay cache (should be in ~/.cache/yay/timeshift) and type:
pacman -U timeshift-20.03-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
or whatever version it is by then. It is always good to have more than way to skin a cat - whatever the cat may have to say about it!
Gee- I was always told to swim ACROSS the current - that way you are more likely to come out the other side… (occasional beach swimmer - though I float better now, swimming is more of an effort!)
Everyone should have a personalized rescue system ready to go, not rely on the EOS live installation ISO. Its main purpose is installation.
Install EOS or clone existing system onto a USB stick / USB drive and configure it with whatever tools you need to troubleshoot a borked system or restore a backup. Make sure it boots regularly and test your restore backup strategy periodically.
I have both a bootable EOS usb stick and separate rescue EOS system for such (rare) occasions. If my primary systems won’t boot there is a EOS rescue entry in grub. If that won’t boot there is the usb live system as a last resort. My partclone system partition images are kept in 3 different locations.
Do what works for you and don’t rely on installation media.
A terminal-centric distro with a dynamic and friendly community in its core
(occasional beach swimmer - though I float better now, swimming is more of an effort!)
if i cannot come intoo the system but thats pretty rarely.