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Ask HN: What Is Your Personal Backup Methods

As Hacker News is filled with people who are well versed it IT, I would like to ask readers to share their personal backup strategies for their preferred operating system and what tools they use. Also, for those willing to share, are you performing full system backups or just backing up your important files?Thank you!

( Read More... | 12 comments | 4 points | on HN )
Re:Remove and Disable Apple Macos27 AI Models Tool on Sunday October 04, 2026 @06:57PM (#49958811)
I don't want AI, at all, and especially not on my operating system. I am leaving my Macbook Pro at version 26 and will not update to 27 until there is some kind of master off switch. If that is not provided by Apple by the time I am ready to replace my computer than I will be going the open source route.

I am personally tired of Apple and Microsoft fattening up operating systems.

Re:macOS 27 Golden Gate: The Ars Technica Review on Wednesday September 16, 2026 @07:32PM (#49734477)
I am not happy about the forced inclusion of AI slop into my operating system.
Re:Matt Mullenweg put on 'leave of absence' on Wednesday September 09, 2026 @08:56PM (#49636852)
Hard disagree. 404 has been awesome since being founded.
Re:Alpine Linux 3.24.0 Released on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @06:13PM (#48468503)
I know that Alpine has a package manager but I haven't tried it because I worry that Musl might present problems compiling software (I sometimes like to compile things myself, like Vim or Emacs). Is this worry valid?

Also are there any issues compiling Go and Rust programs on Alpine?

Re:OpenAI hit with lawsuit by Florida AG over AI risks on Monday June 01, 2026 @04:48PM (#48362435)
My first thought was that they were suing as a favor to Trump/Musk.
Re:Biff is a command line datetime Swiss army knife on Thursday May 28, 2026 @10:16AM (#48309283)
I only recently realized that xsv is now unmaintained. The author now suggests using qsv or xan.
Re:Biff is a command line datetime Swiss army knife on Thursday May 28, 2026 @07:29AM (#48307472)
Thank you for making cool stuff and sharing it with us.
Re:DBase: 1979-2026 on Monday May 11, 2026 @10:58AM (#48095880)
I worked at a business that managed its inventory with dBase IV For DOS. I used it from 1997 to 2012, when the business closed. I personally liked it.
Re:Just Enough Chimera Linux on Monday April 13, 2026 @05:31PM (#47758072)
Speaking of OpenZFS encryption, has there ever been any third party review of the source code? Or any testing of any kind of its effectiveness?
Ahh, new stupidity inbound.
Re:150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation on Thursday February 05, 2026 @07:04PM (#46907252)
I don't know why but having a minimal system that only contains what is needed really scratches an itch for me.
Re:Devuan – Debian Without Systemd on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @07:21AM (#46794397)
I have to admit to still having some philosophical discomfort over SystemD as I feel that it encompasses too much functionality. That said, it does work and that is probably the most important thing.
Re:Gentoo Linux 2025 Review on Monday January 12, 2026 @06:12PM (#46595476)
Doesn't Gentoo itself offer binary installation now?
Re:Gentoo Linux 2025 Review on Sunday January 11, 2026 @12:33PM (#46577684)
> why the downvote?

I can see no reason for it.

Re:Gentoo Linux 2025 Review on Sunday January 11, 2026 @11:50AM (#46577293)
Odd this came up as I am considering revisiting Gentoo. I might have to take this as a sign.
Re:Stranger Things creator says turn off "garbage" settings on Tuesday December 30, 2025 @05:37PM (#46438920)
That's cool info. Thanks!
Re:Micron Announces Exit from Crucial Consumer Business on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @05:32PM (#46141181)
That's a shame. I liked buying RAM from them.
Re:Voyager 1 Is About to Reach One Light-Day from Earth on Wednesday November 26, 2025 @05:44PM (#46063182)
If obtaining speed was the only goal, how fast could we get something traveling in space with our current technology? That would include using gravity assists.
I've been considering doing that, because it seems a lot of VPN owned IP addresses are being flagged.
I've been thinking a lot about VPNs lately, mainly for 2 reasons:

1) In my home state I can no longer access Pornhub

2) Last month I visited Mississippi and could not access BlueSky, even though I can from my home state.

[I personally blame this on the "holier then thou", "don't tread of me" conservatives who cannot resist the urge to try to rule over the activities of others.]

I haven't selected a VPN provider because I have heard that a lot of websites create barriers to people who use VPNs. For example, I've seen people say that couldn't access Reddit via a VPN.

Re:Tinnitus Neuromodulator on Saturday October 18, 2025 @07:48PM (#45631181)
I've had it for four years and I don't notice it most of the time anymore. But for reason just reading about it makes me notice it.
Re:macOS Tahoe on Monday September 15, 2025 @09:22PM (#45256933)
For me it is very fast to appear. I am on a M3 MacBook Pro.
Re:macOS Tahoe on Monday September 15, 2025 @05:08PM (#45254933)
So far the only thing bothering me so far is the way the tabs look (in Finder and Safari). And I did turn on the menu bar background.
Re:GrapheneOS and Forensic Extraction of Data (2024) on Thursday September 11, 2025 @11:39AM (#45212892)
I am probably the only one but the geek in me would love to see an article where digital forensics are used against the most common operating systems in their most secure configuration - just to see how they compare with one another.
Re:Pong Clock on Monday September 01, 2025 @09:57PM (#45098330)
That would be ideal if coupled with a mode where the paddles never miss.
Re:How OnlyFans Piracy Is Ruining the Internet for Everyone on Monday September 01, 2025 @09:53PM (#45098316)
IMHO DMCA takedown requests should be allowed to be automated.
Re:What brain surgery taught me about the gift of consciousness on Monday September 01, 2025 @09:42PM (#45098259)
I had the same experience when under anesthesia. It feels like the time before I can remember being alive.
I hadn't heard of this. Thanks for submitting it.
Re:Tribblix – The Retro Illumos Distribution on Saturday August 09, 2025 @10:20AM (#44846679)
One thing I am curious about is its version of ZFS. Would it be incompatible with OpenZFS from a Linux/FreeBSD system?

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