What Ubuntu needs to copy from Vista
Posted on: Oct-10-2007 10:36:52 AM by Stevan Ljuljdurovic
All Ubuntu users just hear me out. I have this crazy idea that Vista has a very good feature that would be much more important to Ubuntu users then Windows users. How often do you upgrade operating systems with windows? Lets say once every three years (not counting all the times you have to format due to viruses). Well, in Ubuntu you have the option of upgrading to a better operating system every six months! I know for me its a hassle to burn all my data onto DVD's, run a fresh format, and then put all the data back on my upgraded system.
Well when you upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, there is a nifty feature that will take your whole C partition and put it into a folder called Windows Old on your new Windows Vista system. Man this would be an awesome feature for Ubuntu, especially because you could just save all the data from the home directory instead of the root directory. It would be even better if you could chose all the files that it kept when you format. I know you can upgrade from one Ubuntu version to the next, but a lot of the time it has lots of bugs and doesn't work well. Personally this feature would be very useful to me and I believe a lot of people would use it.
Thanks for reading the article and I appreciate any comments or improvement suggestions for the website or article.
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Comments
Lazlo Posted on: 2007-10-10 10:48:52
Just put home on a seperate partition, that's all. And you can also just click upgrade, no problemo at all in feisty --> gutsy.
Venkatesh Posted on: 2007-10-10 11:07:17
not required...
create a new partition for all the crap that you want to store/backup..
and upgrade does not affect those partitions.
Stevan Ljuljdurovic Posted on: 2007-10-10 11:16:38
I will create my own partition, but for newer users this may not be easy. It would also be better if the partition size was dynamically allocated. Either way, I don't think creating a new partition should be necessary. Also if you add a lot of repositories to your feisty release and try to upgrade, then it will be harder to do a smooth upgrade without bugs.
Gijs Posted on: 2007-10-10 11:56:47
To be honest, I think this nifty option is a quick and dirty Microsoft hack to ensure users their data doesn't get lost. It leaves users with a lot of unused folders, like the old windows folder and program files.
The proposed Ubuntu analog, putting the entire home folder in a 'old home' folder, would have a similar - but less redundant - result. At least the 'program files' and the 'core os files' would not be redundantly saved, but consider the many config files in hidden folders that also get saved. I think the best option would be when Ubuntu by default would make a separate home partition to store all the personal stuff on. You are right that right now, this process is not very userfriendly...
Daeng Bo Posted on: 2007-10-10 13:14:48
I'd prefer to see a separate /home partition become standard in Ubuntu and be able to grab a list of installed packages during the installation, so that the system could be safely wiped and reinstalled in nearly the same state that it was before the upgrade. Think Upgrade (in place), Safe Upgrade (reformat / and reinstall same package list), and Reinstall (wipe / and install base system).
Just a week to go to Gutsy!!!
Daeng
http://ibeentoubuntu.blogspot.com
snake Posted on: 2007-10-10 18:44:08
stevan, how was my pronounsation for ur last name?
Stevan Ljuljdurovic Posted on: 2007-10-11 00:47:02
Gijs: I do see how just saving everything would also include a lot of useless system files, this is why linux should give you the option of what you want to save.
Daeng Bo: I think that a new home partition would be a great idea, but it should be an option since most people don't know how to work with partitions. If they made it very user friendly with a good simple GUI then the average user could do it.
Snake: You are much better now haha.
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