this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
13 points (100.0% liked)

Linux

1259 readers
105 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hi, Linux! I've been using Linux for many years now, but haven't moved distros in awhile. I'm considering it now, and I really would like to migrate over all my customized system and software settings. So far, I am thinking of backing up everything that begins with a dot in my home folder, all of my systemd service files, and user/root crontabs. I know this is missing some things, but I'm not sure what. Any advice/warnings/examples people care to share?

top 9 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] DmMacniel@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You could start by having /home on a different partition. So that you simply can mount it in your new system and have the same settings and files as previously.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This would be a big help, and I used to do that. I've actually heard that this can cause some problems between distros though.

[–] donio 1 points 1 year ago

It shouldn't as long as you make sure that the numeric uid/gid of your user account matches the one from the original system. If that's not feasible then you can chown the tree.

[–] ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I am sorry but I really don't have any constructive advice to offer. I am more curious what distros you are considering. If you haven't thought about using Arch, please give it serious consideration because it is nice and lightweight. Yes, the install process is terse but it leaves you with a good system that you really know what's going on.

[–] VexCatalyst@lemmy.fmhy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] cerement@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] VexCatalyst@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

🤣😂

Yep! That’s us Linux users in a nutshell!

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

No worries. I haven'ttried actual Arch since circa 2008 (not impressed then haha). A couple years ago I ran Manjaro, which was fine. I am definitely partial to Debian/Apt based systems though. Been using Mint for a long time, but wanting to switch to Siduction.

[–] potpie 2 points 1 year ago

I dunno. I like to have a fresh start sometimes. Take your documents, maybe just your fav config files, and plop them into a fresh install. Not everyone's cup of tea but I like it.