Moving from Linux mint to Ubuntu

Question

I've moved between several Linux Distributions like Kubuntu, Open Suse, Kali, Linux mint and not forgetting Ubuntu, initially I picked Linux mint because the GUI was so beautiful and it was still based on Ubuntu but recently it started to give so many problems so now I'm thinking of ditching it and going back to Ubuntu for real...

The question I have is this. If I use the mint backup tool to backup all my files, will I be able to restore it back to Ubuntu? I know the default backup manager in Ubuntu is deja-dup, will I be required to install the mint-backup in Ubuntu to access the files?

I would not rely on the Mint tool to work on any other distro. It may or may not. Just copy the file to a flash drive ;) — Panther, Mar 30 '15 at 20:43
It depends what you backed up with it. user files, you should be cool. system settings, you might encounter problems. — j0h, Mar 30 '15 at 20:55
i think i would use a hdd instead or just copy it to another partition on my hard drive because the files are more than 400gb — danidee, Mar 30 '15 at 20:56
@danidee As practically none of us use Mint I'm not sure we can answer this here. It would probably be more appropriate over on [unix.se] where they handle Mint questions. Is there a reason why you can't just install deja-dup and backup with that? — Seth, Mar 30 '15 at 21:31
oooooh thanks @Seth my mind didn't actually go to that...i guess installing deja-dup should work without issues, i'll still try and ask the question over there though — danidee, Mar 30 '15 at 21:41
possible duplicate of Re-install Ubuntu without losing data in home folder — David Foerster, Apr 07 '15 at 02:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 30 '15 at 22:19

Yes, that should be fine. The Mint backup tool is easy enough to install on Ubuntu (and it might be a good idea, it's a useful tool) but it's not needed. It simply copies your files. It doesn't use any kind of proprietary format that would make it hard for you to access them. The choices it provides you with are to either copy the files as they are or to compress them into one of the standard archive formats. This archive is saved in the target directory and you can then copy it on to your new system and extract the files manually.

So, yes, you can use Mint's tool for this.You should note, however, that the chances of a problem appearing in Mint and not in Ubuntu are very slim. Not impossible, just unlikely, the two are very, very similar. More likely, your issues are with whatever graphical environment you have chosen to use and not with the underlying system.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

I'd really suggest doing it the 'old fashioned' way - with a few tweaks.

dump a package list
make copies of /etc/ and /home/ and other important directories
If you're suspecting that mate config is the issue and want to install mate in ubuntu rename or delete /home/your_username/.mateconf/
do a fresh install of ubuntu (optionally with a DE of your choice)
copy over /home/ and /etc/ contents. Replace anything that's already there. Use chown to ensure that the new files are owned by you. -test!

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 30 '15 at 23:39

If you are talking about backing up your files, that is to say, documents in your home directory, then it should be fine. If you are talking about backing up the whole system and trying to restore it, then no, that would bastardize your ubuntu system into a mint ubuntu hybrid and cause a lot of breakage.

Moving from Linux mint to Ubuntu

3 Answers3