Duncan Anderson wrote:
On Saturday, 4 February 2006 00:10, Dan LaBine wrote:
I've never seen anyone suggest this on the list, so I thought I'd throw
it into the general knowledge pool, even though it's a very basic concept.
Since most of the configuration required on typical Linux systems is
stored in text files, and since many of us often find ourselves
re-installing, remember that you can save all your config files and
re-use them many times over.
While backups are always a handy thing to have and highly recommended,
having your config files stored on a floppy or CD makes it very easy to
re-install your system or to install on other systems without having to
make a lot of changes.
In many cases, config files can be used across several versions of the
same distro (ie; ML 10.1, 2005 LE and 2006)with little or no changes at
all and either way can save a lot of time.
All to often, when some service or application involves a complicated
configuration or took a long time to get working properly, saving it's
configuration files will save you from having to research documents and
'Howto' sites/Wiki's.
As a side note, it's probably a good idea to copy your entire /home
folder to an alternate location for safe storage. backups are all fine
and well, but when you're trying to retrieve a one or two files, having
a regular copy is always a fast method.
HTH's for any newbie's who might find it handy.
Very good advice, Dan. I have found over the years that doing what you have
just described has allowed me to maintain a certain level of continuity over
a wide range of different systems. I still have certain text files that were
in my home directory on a SCO Xenix system in the late eighties, and which
are still useful to me to this day. :-)
I have found that one may experience a smoother transition from a given
release of an OS to a later release by backing up the config files and doing
a clean install each time instead of the head-banging that is usually
involved in "upgrading".
Thanks for a very sound bit of advice. I urge "newbies" to take note.
cheers
Duncan
Thanks Duncan. I thought it might be a good idea to share a few of the
basic time-savers I've collected over the years with the list. I'm still
working on a few others to send in from time to time.
Dan
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