New Software to Undo Linux Disasters

" but because I write about Windows,"

So, why were you assigned to this story, and not someone who would have been interested in getting the readers some actual information?

With Windows i often got Problems so that the restore function was really important, otherwise you had to reinstall the whole OS.
I m now using Linux on the Desktop for 3 years and never had any Data loses, 1st Thing Linux is much moder stable than Windows and 2nd Thing: with the inteligent partitioning system you can install every Distribution over you existing one without loosing any Data.

First there was go-back, then windows' own system restore, symantec had one, and now this and more. I never fully trusted them. I could never restore things EXACTLY the way they were. why bother? I just run my OS in a Virtual Machine (vmware) and if something goes wrong I use a great feature called "revert to snapshot" and in one minute my OS is back to what it was. the coolest thing ever. Plus, I get alot of other benefits, like being able to run multiple vm's, multiple OS's all at once, being able to test any program with no fear of consequences and a lot more. I could go on forever but you get the point.

Leo: VMware is a great tool, but do you agree that it's not for average users (mostly because of the CPU and memory demands)?

This is not even an article. I understand the lack of knowledge for linux, but are the insults necesary. I mean if this articles is meant to attack the credibility of linux, it backfires. Instead I think that you are a real idiot, and i would not trust anything you say. I am not an linux zealot, I just feel that when you are a professional, you should act like one. This article was pathetic, and its only useful piece of information is that you are a real moron not worthy of being read.

Jim, you are obviously a zealot of some kind to write a message like that.

Yeah, the signal-to-noise ratio is low in this article, but the author did not act anything like you describe (or how you act).

Jim,
i think you may've overread Steve's tone. I would say he was being more facetious than insulting. I *AM* a linux lover(though i'm no "os biggot") and I chuckled at his comments. Getting back on topic, I don't see this product having a huge market, mainly becuase linux has *very* good built in resuce abilities and because it's structure is far more modular than other os's.

Since 1996 I have never had a disaster of any kind with any Linux distribution. Since I write about Linux I use journaling filesystems, one kind or the other. If a program chrashes it never takes down the whole system. Of course my computers gets backup taken by my backupserver with Amanda, automatically every 24 hours.

I don't want to make somebody rich with my mistakes. I try to learn from mistakes made by others rather than my own.

Of course the software is free, as in "free beer", free as in "free speach", open as open air, stable as Sierra Madre.

My Internet router is subject to continuous bombardment by scriptkiddies, crackers and a like (firewall log grows about 40 KBytes per 24 hours). Naturally the router is a Linux box too.

Did I mention it's free? ;-)

We linuxusers have had to learn one thing or two about security, at least the 3 first rules:

1. Make good backups
2. Make good backups
3. Make good backups

Check your backups!

What's the point taking bad backups?

The worst disaster that can happen, is that I loose todays work, eventhough that is most unlikely.

.

This is exciting! I mean if Windows needs it, *obviously* every operating system needs it too.... NOT!

After being with Microsoft from DOS 5.0 through Windows XP, a year and a half ago, I switched to Linux. I just got tired of cleaning spyware and cryptic BSOD on three different machines. Okay, three times I gave up learning Linux, until I finally gave up the Microsoft mindset. It was then that I discovered that Linux "just works." I sold my Windows XP disks, MS Office disks and gave away most everything else related to Windows. It's never been better! I wouldn't switch back to Microsoft if they suddenly decided to give their software away for free! The other comment here is correct. Learn to make backups.

I'm celebrating my 11th year running Linux, and my 6th year running it as my exclusive desktop. In that time, I've run Linux on dozens of machines, including several servers. While I do take backups regularly, I've only used them to restore files after a clean installation (vs. upgrade) to a new release. I've never encountered the type of disaster that the author describes, nor have I ever felt a need for a product such as this.

The existing package management tools (I use an rpm-based distribution) already allow you to back-out updates that you don't want. Recovering accidentally deleted files is the function of a good backup strategy, not a hit-or-miss filesystem munging program. Virus and worms? In 11 years, I have yet to encounter the first non-obvious malware. All that I've seen for Linux properly qualify as trojans - unsolicited software that asks you to compile and run, preferably as root. That's like calling the "Nigerian" scams a virus or worm for your bank account.

I personally don't care if another single human being uses Linux. I'm quite happy that the existing user population is sufficiently technically knowledgeable enough to be self sufficient, secure and functional. The remaining population needs a "desktop appliance" - like a car with the hood welded shut - so that they can do what they need to do without thinking about the PC as a source of risk at all. A Linux live-CD on a PC whose BIOS prevented booting from writable storage would qualify, and would end all this trojan/virus/worm/spam nonsense.

The Linux distro I use, PCLinuxOS, has a script called mklivecd. I understand it also works with Mandriva. All you have to do, when for example you are having a half hour away from the computer, is to run this script, and you have an iso which can be burned onto a DVD or CD depending on size. This becomes an instant backup. Indeed it is so intelligent that things that could change (different drives/partitions, computer hardware) are detected when re-installed, but the software, passwords, and everything else remains the same. Oh, and it's free.

Oh and for the most part, my system restores in Linux are invariably caused by me messing around, fixing things that ain't broke. Never had a virus / trojan / worm / adware etc take over since I've been using Linux.

Well said davecs.This guy gives off a strange odor of arrogance.He is the typical windows "brainwashed" zealot.I too use PCLinuxOS and as you are well aware it "just works".I suspect as the years go by his job will be threatned as more people wake up and discover that there is alternatives to windows.Glad I did and I will never return.

Mr. Bass, Linux is far more stable than Windows. There are indeed some instances of data loss in Linux, but that's akin to comparing the volume of water in the Pacific Ocean (Windows) to the volume of water in a public fountain (Linux).

And when any Linux or Windows user indeed does crash a system, he or she can always use a tool you obviously know next to nothing about--Linux-- to get the data back.

Your comment that you've only played with Linux a few times shows you to be a poor choice to write about anything concerning Linux. I hope that PCWorld can find someone on its staff actually qualified to report on future Linux topics.

Wow, I'm surprised that PC World has such a low opinion of it's readers that they wouldn't bother to get someone qualified to write on a topic. And the insulting pic is a nice touch, btw.

You do the computing community a great disservice by insulting that which you know so little about. It's nice that there's a program such as RestoreIt, especially for those like yourself who are not quite that good with PCs. You obviously need a program smart enough to recover from your mistakes, I wonder if it can write?