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People like me who constantly re-installs distro for some reasons doesn't want to go with the same process of setting up the previous environment.(unlike windows where i know what folders and drives needs to be included in backup(although i use AOMEI BACKUPPER) so my life is easy in windows but not so in ubuntu because i'm an avid noob who keeps messing up with system and then re-installs it.

MrRo13ot
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  • Look at the "Related" questions in the right pane of this question. Maybe something useful there? – DK Bose Jul 06 '20 at 10:00
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    In the end this is an opinion question I fear. To me the $HOME directory is all that matters, and I don't see that as very significant anyway (any file I value exists in multiple locations so I'll grab another copy should I need to). I don't backup any system file, should my drive die tonight, I'll grab a new drive & clean install & start again (sudo apt install when I need tools). I used to keep a list of what packages I was using to aid restoration of programs, but I felt I was carrying bloat so I now just re-install as needed (system is leaner now). – guiverc Jul 06 '20 at 10:15
  • If you have a spare system, I'd recommend a fresh install on that, and try and use it for your normal tasks. You'll very quickly discover what you need, what matters to you, and leave off all the bloat (ie. what you don't need) backups tend to keep hanging around, & have the best answer for your use-case. – guiverc Jul 06 '20 at 10:18
  • I would advice to create a post install script for all the software you install and delete yourself. You can also do that for settings. Sync browsers with your mail. And execute that after a reinstall. That way you only need to take care of your actual personal files. And I myself put those on a different partition that I mount during reinstall. My reinstall takes 19 minutes (and during it I keep using a browser so my downtime is equal to the booting and rebooting it takes) – Rinzwind Jul 06 '20 at 10:38
  • Thanks everyone for the replies. – MrRo13ot Jul 07 '20 at 12:54

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To me the $HOME directory is all that matters (ie. my data), and I don't see that as very significant anyway (any file I value exists in multiple locations so I'll grab another copy should I need to).

I don't backup any system file, should my drive die tonight, I'll grab a new drive & clean install & start again (sudo apt install when I need tools). I used to keep a list of what packages I was using to aid restoration of programs, but I felt I was carrying bloat so I now just re-install as needed (system is leaner now I feel).

If you have a spare system, I'd recommend a fresh install on that, and try and use it for your normal tasks. You'll very quickly discover what you need, what matters to you, and leave off all the bloat (ie. what you don't need) & have the best answer for your use-case.

FYI: For a non-technical user, this may not be the best advice, sorry I don't know.

I used to care about my panel setup & configuration, but every time I setup a new machine I'd end up changing it anyway, so decided it was no slower to start from a clean slate (ie. default setup) to what I need is about the same as restoring a backup

guiverc
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