wolftune wrote:Quick questions about Back In Time...
Some of your questions seem to be addressed
here, and thanks for the link to their site so I can check out this software, which I see also uses rsync.
I don't find anything unusual about running backup operations as root: it is an adminsitrative task, and, obviously, the restoring of system files that don't have write permission except for root must be done as root.
All these things require the usual care and attention that su-ing or being "root" demands. I spent a weekend once, reinstalling a firewall, Solaris plus Firewall software plus reconfiguring, just because, in a moment of confusion, I wrote my backup to the disk itself instead of to the tape device. Thankfully, the firewall rules were (purposely) simple, no user data was on that machine and I did it on a Friday afternoon
I am still not up to speed on the requirement of quickly re-establishing a system in Linux, because I don't have the pressure of forty people unable to work if I need to do that: I can bumble along at my own speed. Remastersys seems the best answer so far, but ceases to be useful once a single DVD capacity is exceeded. Iy has the huge advantage that, when recovering from a dead system, dead hardware, or a move to anew machine, it covers basic install
plus additional software
plus updates
plus local settings in one operation: That is huge!
I'm not really "a techie" these days, so I lack the impetus to just mess around with these things and there is no professional pressure to find better solutions. I know Linux would not exist if everyone felt that way, but after a couple of decades on the job, I and my brain have retired! Learning something new is fascinating; relearning it because I've forgotten it is tedious.
Mondo Rescue was one of the most interesting out of other tools that I looked at. One of my requirements was to be able to back up to multiple DVDs: this seems to have it covered. Yes, it looks great ...but, for me, it simply didn't work

. I'll try it again one day.
It's very right that you guys, whether actually pro or just serious amateur, take a professional approach to this sort of system admin question!