Backing Up Software

[cmanL]

When using MS Windows I usually like to back the core group of software packages that I use on a regular basis on an optical disc so that I can quickly reinstall the programs that I use on a regular basis quickly when I do an operating system reinstall or update. What exactly do I need to save for use in the reinstall with Fendora ( with Windows one would simply save the program's installer .exe but but I'm not sure what to save in Linux. For example , I recently installed VLC media player using the Add/Remove software dialog from the system pop-up menu. How would I back this up on an optical disc? Thanks for any information....

[flyingfsck]

Uhmm, you just click the add/remove software thingy again the next time...

Linux and Windows are fundamentally different. Windows is expensive and remains essentially the same for 10 years or more. Linux generally costs nothing and is dynamic and changes all the time. The result is that keeping copies of old and tired versions of Linux programs simply don't work.

Just back up your data with DejaDup and one day when your HDD fails, install the latest and greatest version of Linux.

BTW, if you have a truly complex/important system, then you can use a script file left behind in /root by the installer to replicate the machine using Kickstart. It is used by large IT departments to roll out identical desktops to thousands of machines and you may want to keep a copy of the /root/anaconda-ks.cfg file, but using Kickstart the first time is not exactly easy either and it requires a whole lot of reading and testing before you will be comfortable with it.

[nonamedotc]

Another alternative is to image the whole system using something like clonezilla. However, it images the entire disk (or partition, as applicable) and hence not only the programs but the entire OS would be saved. Essentially another way of backing up the whole system.

I would personally recommend what flyingfsck has mentioned before - reinstall apps from repositories. Hope this helps.

[flyingfsck]

The important point to ponder is that Linux has a never ending rolling development system. A release by a distribution house such as Fedora 17 is very different from Fedora 16 and programs made for 16 will not work on 17.

This is why you *have* to use the software installer - it hooks to the correct public repositories where a copy of each and every program anyone on the planet wants are kept. These repositories were completely rebuilt by the Fedora team for each and every new version of the Fedora system - which takes them many months on fast machines. This is fundamentally different from the way Windows is maintained.

For a private individual, keeping old copies of programs is not viable - you need to save the *whole* repository, which is around 50 Gigabytes and which will take you a week to download. I have done that when I worked for a large company and we made out own private Linux distribution to use for government projects. To recompile a whole distro on a garden variety machine will take several months/years, so this is not recommended for individuals, unless you have a lot of money to throw at the problem.

[cmanL]

OK , thanks for all the information! Hopefully I'll catch on to Linux administration , eventually.

I've been reading The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk and from what I understand most versions of Linux adhere to a certain standard ( a general set of API calls and system standard limits , etc ) so I would have guessed software could be moved from version to version of the operating system. What accounts for the applications not being portable ( small changes in the operating system itself ? ) ? Thanks for any information!

[flyingfsck]

Yes, the OS is always changing. Usually, one can make an old application work by simply recompiling it against the latest libraries. Sometimes one needs to make a small code change.