Linux And Manjaro Tips

Just installed Manjaro KDE on a secondary drive of one PC. After a couple of days now, I can see how polished Linux has become. I like that Manjaro is updated on a rolling basis or live so to speak. Anyway, if anyone is wondering, don't get a chromebook, Linux is heaven on earth in comparison. Really, I can use this every day no problem. Within only 2 hours I was installed, online, and updated. Programs install in no time...

I do have some questions about which software to go for and also a concern. Is there a straightforward method for backing up Manjaro? With the live updates, I want to back up the system regularly. It was far simpler than I expected to install Inkscape and kdenlive (I heard it's excellent video editing etc.). No issues, and things I have to have. Any other tips on software appreciated.

The KDE plasma desktop is very alive with lots of options. Windows snap to corners or half screen or full. Widgets work out of the box. Nice and I recommend a look at Linux for anyone tired of spyware. 2nd picture is an Inkscape 8 color tracing to test the tracing tool on Linux...passed the test although not a very good subject photo for an 8 color vector trace...

 

You will need to image the partition containing Linux in much the same way as if it was Windows ie use imaging software.

Loads to go for and users have their own preferences. I use a very spartan program called ImagesforDos (IforD) for reason that it runs from a cd and hence I do not have to install any additional progs on my pc.

I have heard Acronis recommended many times but remain with IforD simply because I have got used to it and it has never let me down

 

So can I run backups from inside the Windows installation? I use Paragon, and I don't know if it would see the Linux drive as an OS drive. It can also be run from a disk. I will take a look later today.

 

It doesn't matter whether Paragon sees the Linux drive as a system partition or not. Just image the Linux partition.

I can relate to your enthusiasm for Manjaro as I use a current version of Puppy on a live USB and am constantly amazed at how competent it is - until that is that something happens that is not catered for in the GUI, when you are suddenly faced with having to seek help from the Linux community as a total novice. Usually they do try to be helpful, but they are talking a language you know nothing at all about. Not easy

 

I noticed this a while back. I attempted to install Linux using a wi-fi connection that required a Netgear adapter. The installation wouldn't download drivers, so it failed miserably. Went for help, but they weren't speaking a language I could understand at the time. I've learned some since then, like you can tether PCs together and use ethernet to connect on a second PC (connection sharing in Windows), even if the first is wi-fi. So that's how I got Manjaro installed anyway.

Experience in Windows and Mac too does seem to me to port over after some time. There are little things to notice like a program might save by default to the root instead of Home or whatever.

I recommend Youtube Chris Titus Tech, because he worked with most if not all the versions of Linux over the last year and a half, having beaucoups of experience on them previously, to attempt to find the right one for him. His chronicles of the 10 day trials are fantastic and also compares Linux functionality to Windows a good bit. That said, I think I will get a backup now , thanks for the knowledge...

 

Paragon inside Windows didn't work out so well. It wanted 120 GB for the backup of a 160 GB drive. Clonezilla did the 17 GB job in just over 6 GB or I hope it did and managed to get the headphones to work by installing Pulse Audio...

 

As an aside I know exactly what you mean.........

 

Does Clonezilla have a means of verifying your image and a bootable recovery disk? I image with Macrium Reflect and Aomei Backupper but there are so many more available, and all those I have tried seem to work satisfactorily. I don't have an installed Linux I can test on, just flash drives.

 

Yes, as far as I can tell it is exclusively for use from a CD or USB stick. There isn't really a GUI for the backup, something like the text options for safe mode with Windows. You get a list of choices as you go. The language is a little bit confusing but YouTube has videos that helped me. I'm sure the others would have done the job fine, but I didn't want to have to dig through the details about imaging a Linux drive. Clonezilla states fairly clearly that it can do the job and the videos clinched it for me. Apparently, it does a fair job with Windows too.

Yes, I have done this with Paragon. One of the things I like about the program is that the burn option is a nice button on the main gui of the program.

This time, I was attempting to back up a Linux secondary disk from inside Windows (one Windows disk and one Linux disk). Paragon seemed to read the Linux drive as an operating system, so I hoped it would be able to read what data should and shouldn't be backed up. Unfortunately, that was not possible for the older version of Paragon I have, and it went for a bit for bit record of the entire drive basically.

BTW, I usually initiate a restore from inside Windows with Paragon these days. Sometimes it fails, and I have to use the disk, but, when it works from inside Windows, it will automatically reboot the machine and run the restore without the disk during the reboot. Pretty good program even if this version isn't designed to recognize and efficiently back up a Linux drive...

Linux is alot of fun. Clearly it seems to me to be a better designed operating system than Windows with so much less garbage and clutter, compared to especially Windows 10. I am referencing only experience with Mint and Manjaro, but I don't think they're known in Linux circles for being designed to be "lite" Linux or anything somehow unfit for a comparision with Windows. Best of all with Linux, all the components can really be removed. I think that's the most satisfying element of my experience with Linux...