Re: Backup Akonadi data

On Friday 08 October 2010, Anne Wilson wrote:
> On Friday 08 October 2010 16:53:31 David Goodenough wrote:
> > I asked a question (is there a backup/migration utility) and you
> > replied (and only you) with an answer which told me that there was
> > a partial utility (the one in the task bar) and that there was
> > some documentation which when I read it basically said that the
> > backup only backed up some of the information and that there was a
> > whole lot I had to do myself.  The comment about bits and pieces
> > all over the place seems quite justified to me when you read the
> > link you gave me and find that the person who wrote it said that
> > he did not know where all the places where.  If the developers had
> > answered my question then I would have been delighted to talk to
> > them.
> > 
> > That says to me that either no-one designed a backup process (I
> > would be quite happy if there was a design but no implementation
> > as it could then be implemented) or that its design is hidden
> > somewhere that neither of us can find.  In the latter case then
> > this can easily be fixed by publishing the docs, in the former
> > case I think I have a reasonable case that the developers should
> > answer.
> > 
> > I have no intention reinventing wheels, I just fill in wheels where
> > I can not find them.
> > 
> > I have written the first cut of the code, and I am currently
> > testing it. So far it seems to work.
> 
> The fact that I do not know any details of backup strategy, other
> than the fact that I set cron jobs to regularly rsync various
> directories under ~/.kde4 and ~/.local, does not mean that they
> don't exist.
> 
> Most of the developers of Kontact do not read this list.  They long
> since lost patience with the poor attitudes they encountered from so
> many users.  Now when I see a question where I can't at least point
> to a guide to start looking, I go to the developers privately and
> ask them about it.  Most of the time, this works.
> 
> I would seriously suggest that your code writing at the moment may be
> flawed, because I know for a fact that backup is something that has
> been considered seriously, even though I don't know how far it has
> got.

Anne, I wouldn't be so bold as to claim that David's code is flawed. 
It's surely not that difficult to write a simple program which does a 
dump of the database and copies all needed files somewhere. As you wrote 
the most simple solution would ensure that the database is in a 
consistent state (I'm pretty sure this can be done with one or two 
commands) and then do a simple rsync.

The major problem with writing a good backup tool is to make it user 
friendly. In particular, making the restore user friendly is a tough 
job.


Regards,
Ingo

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