Backup feature?

[Robert Graham Merkel]

Clark Jones writes:
 > Robert Graham Merkel wrote:
 > > 
 > > Timothy Reaves writes:
 > >  >     I backup feature, ala Quicken, that encourages backing up data files
 > >  > to a drive other than the local.  This way if there is a HD failure, the
 > >  > data is safe on floppy - for off site storage - or an mounted drive.
 > > 
 > > The trouble with this is that on Linux, you may have to explicitly
 > > mount the drive, and trying to deal with all the possibilities in a
 > > Grandma-proof way is, well, trying.  Then there are the possibilities
 > > of systems with non-standard storage devices like superfloppies.
 > > Gnucash doesn't have a seperate "data backup" format either, so simply
 > > copying the .xac file to a floppy is all you need to do.
 > > If you have a good solution that meets the Grandma test, please
 > > outline it, and I'll have a look (or better still, if you've got some
 > > spare time, you could have a go).
 > 
 > You probably should take a look at "mtools" -- mdir, mcd, mdel, mcopy, etc.
 > These are tools that have been around for years, and allow manipulating
 > MS-DOS/Windows floppies from Un*x, and does not require a mount/umount
 > cycle.  (They do refer to the files on the floppy using MS-DOS/Windows
 > syntax.)  They could probably be included in a script, if nothing else.

Possibly.  I'm leaning towards the view, myself, that we should leave
to somebody else the problem of building a backup system.

#ifdef OFFTOPIC

One thing that I'd really like is a proper backup system designed for
use with CD-R(W), which supports a variety of backup strategies
(including incremental and differential), spanning across multiple
discs, and if possible (I wouldn't use it, but others probably would) 
a nice friendly drool-proof GUI so that others will use it.

#endif

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Robert Merkel	                           rgmerk@mira.net

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