This is your annual reminder to do a snapshot (timeshift or whatever you prefer) before doing relatively minor changes to your system.

I was supposed to be in bed now, but instead I am stuck troubleshooting xorg refusing to start after an apt-get dist-upgrade.

And as far as friendly reminders go, I should’ve given myself an unfriendly reminder beforehand, as it’s not the first time…

UPDATE: Fuck nvidia 545. All my homies hate nvidia 545. 535 4 lyf!

  • @Stillhart
    10•5 months ago

    Linux noobie here. Any tips on what to search for for instructions on how to do this? Bonus points if it has a GUI and is easy to use.

    • @neidu2@feddit.nlOP
      13•5 months ago

      Timeshift. It has an easy to understand GUI that doesn’t really need much of an intro: You create snapshots of your system files and configs that can be restored if/when you bungle it up.

      • @cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        2•5 months ago

        Timeshift works best if you use BTRFS for your root partition because snapshots can be taken instantly. I have mine setup to automatically take a snapshot every day.

      • @Catsrules@lemmy.ml
        2•5 months ago

        Never used it myself and i am still a linix noob but what is the restore process if your OS isnt bootable?

        If their like a rescue environment you boot into or something?

        • @neidu2@feddit.nlOP
          3•5 months ago

          There are many approaches, depending on what broke. In my case the system was fine, just xorg being completely borked. So I logged into the console and fixed it.

          If regular console doesn’t work, something really went bad during boot, for which there’s single-user mode which is kind of similar to safe mode from Windows 98 (I’m sure there’s something similar in newer windows versions).

          And of that doesn’t work, there’s the minimalistic rescue shell.

          And if that doesn’t work, you can boot from a USB or some other external media and try to fix your system from that, maybe even using chroot to use the system somewhat normally.

    • JJLinux
      5•5 months ago

      As long as your file system is on BTRFS, timeshift is, I O, the easiest backup app for Linux, specially if you’re just getting your feet wet in it.

      • @dan@upvote.au
        4•5 months ago

        Why does Timeshift only support btrfs? Is it just a lack of developers? LVM supports snapshots too, even if you’re just using ext4. ZFS supports snapshots too.