GoboLinux - Fun with File System Hierarchy

GoboLinux - Fun with File System Hierarchy

Posted Jan 23, 2004 10:31 UTC (Fri) by Duncan (guest, #6647)
Parent article: GoboLinux - Fun with File System Hierarchy

All I can say is "YUCK!!"

I'm a reformed MSWormOS/MSDOS user myself, but recently upgraded my
system to AMD64 (running Mdk 9.2 RC, updated regularly, FWIW), and shortly
thereafter had my main hard drive go south on me. I REALLY discovered the
beauty and simplicity of the traditional *ix file system at that point, and now
DEFINITELY appreciate it.

Unlike MSWormOS, which unfortunately mixes applications and per-installation
settings and customizations in a confusing hodge-podge nearly impossible to sort
out for backup purposes, the traditional Linux (Unix) organization is simple and
straightforward to backup -- AND to restore, when necessary. Back up /etc,
/usr/local, and /home, plus the normally /var stuff like mail spools, and any
installation specific stuff like the /mnt/user/news and /mnt/user/mm (multi-media)
(on a desktop, obviously, servers would have server data to backup instead), plus
any proprietary/custom installs on /opt, and you've effectively backed up the
whole system, since its easy enough to reinstall install the base system and
distribution binaries and files off the install CDs.

Since functional data such as mail and server data, and personal stuff such as
/home and multi-media, wherever that's located on a particular desktop system
installation, should be backed up regularly on their own, that leaves only /etc and
/usr/local (plus anything proprietary on /opt or wherever) for system backups,
and one should be able to fit multiple blindly-copy-the-entire-subdir tree system
backups on a single 10 cent CD. Here, /etc and /usr/local together run about
33MB, so I can easily do a quarter's worth of weekly system config backups to a
CD. Make that a pair of CDs for data reliability reasons, and it's six months
worth of system backup data on a pair of CDs. Can't beat the ease and
simplicity of that!

Or, simply backup to a second hard drive, with partitions not normally mounted
except for backup, and mounted read-only for reference or restore operations.

Same thing, tho. It's far simpler to back up a traditionally laid out Linux system,
than an MSWormOS system with data and binaries combined, and restoring is
equally simple. Gobo Linux appears to be taking that back to the hodge-podge
nightmare of MSWormOS. As I said, YUCK! It's DEFINITELY not for me!

Duncan

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