Like most users working with digital data during the dreaded (but simpler days) of Windows 95 and Windows 2000, I religiously backed up my files to CDR and later to DVDRs. One of the first things I bought with my first paycheck (actually it was coins in an envelope) was a "cutting-edge" Sony CD-R burner that maxed out at 16X data write rate. Contrary to experts who predicted at the time that CD media deteriorated completely in 5 years, CDR I burned back in 2001 are still readable. However, the resiliency of my discs haven't stopped me from archiving the files using Knoppix or openSUSE. It's a slow and tedious job, but Linux makes the task much easier.
1. Faster read/write. Windows 7 is a great operating system, but popping in CDRs burned a decade ago can be a chore using Windows. Even bulky openSUSE 12.2 KDE prepares a CD for copying faster than Microsoft's OS. Lightweight Knoppix is even faster.
2. Viruses and corrupted files. I once fought tooth and nail against a VBScript virus and I'm fairly sure malware lingers in some of the Microsoft Office 2000 files I saved to disc. Will it hurt my Linux system? Hell no. As for corrupted files, there are tons of command line utilities to rescue partially broken video files, images, and documents. Try a specialized Linux distribution for data recovery or a tried and true application like photorec. Can't seem to play a classic Traci Lords video you downloaded years ago? A Linux system will not only recover the file but will try to fix it for you too!
3. Fully-featured file managers. KDE is admittedly a bloated desktop environment when placed next to LXDE and Xfce (my two favored desktops). However, I love Dolphin dearly, which easily accesses network shares using SSH, NFS, and Samba without much issues and has a twin pane view that Thunar and PCMANFM doesn't have. You can also open a Terminal pane for quick commands like ls or mkdir. Selecting files and organizing thousands of file formats and assigning a default application to open video files and documents is a cinch. Plus, some Linux distributions even come with classic file managers such as Midnight Commander - a great way to remember the good old days when you didn't have apps, touchscreens, and silly desktop effects.
4. Preview before moving or copying. The aforementioned Dolphin file manager and Gnome's Nautilus can preview not only thumbnails, but images, .cbr, .cbz, .pdf, .eps, and even legacy formats through associated applications like Gwenview, Okular, and Evince. Most of these viewers are preinstalled with a Linux distribution and even if your Linux distro doesn't support the file format, just launch your software manager and install an application in minutes. Obviously, you'd want to avoid copying your adult "collection" to the wrong external hard drive your girlfriend uses.
5. Sync files and folders. Years of paranoia and poverty forced me to back up folders and files more than once across different CDs and DVRs using a primitive labeling system that consisted of either printing the ls output to a sheet of paper or writing the important files on a PostIt by hand. While archiving, it often happens that copies of files appear all over, consuming space and retarding progress. With applications like Grsync, Unison, and Luckybackup, you won't have to worry about redundancy unless you really intend to do just that!
0 comments:
Post a Comment