Hi, I’m currently back on Fedora Kinoite from KDE Linux, but I want to be on KDE Linux. I have some maybe advanced questions.
Is there a way to disable snapshots on regular home directory and enable them on an external SSD? I ask because I keep all my files in there instead of the system drive. The SSD is Btrfs already. Also, probably stupid, but could doing this damage files already in the drive?
And
By commiting to it today, will I receive the newer defaults as they arrive? Such as when Beta and Release versions come out?
What could I miss by not waiting for more stable versions? Filesystem changes (which I find unlikely but you never know)? Partition changes? Secure Boot (probably won’t need to reinstall for that maybe)? Swap changes?
I know a lot of these questions are not really answerable (because Alpha), but I love KDE (I donated too! ) and would love to use it as intended™ and as you probably can tell I can’t wait for it!
Anyway, thanks for your time reading this long post. I appreciate any answers!
Is there a way to disable snapshots on regular home directory and enable them on an external SSD? I ask because I keep all my files in there instead of the system drive. The SSD is Btrfs already.
You can’t directly take snapshots to an external drive, because snapshots need to be created on the same filesystem… now, once created, you can copy them over to an external drive. But really backups (instead of snapshots) are the correct tool here, at least for the system we have now where the two are separate concepts. See https://linux.kde.org/docs/backup/
Also, probably stupid, but could doing this damage files already in the drive?
On the external drive? No, taking backups to it won’t damage it any more than normal read/write.
What could I miss by not waiting for more stable versions? Filesystem changes (which I find unlikely but you never know)? Partition changes? Secure Boot (probably won’t need to reinstall for that maybe)? Swap changes?
We have migrator programs which will automatically make the necessary filesystem layout and other modifications when there’s a change of that nature. We’ve already automatically migrated the FS layout on upgrades twice before using this tool.
For the external SSD, be cautious about enabling snapshots until you know exactly how KDE Linux handles them. Btrfs snapshots themselves shouldn’t modify or damage your existing files, but the snapshot configuration and subvolume layout matter, especially if the SSD already contains data. As for switching to KDE Linux now, I’d expect an Alpha build to change underneath you, including defaults and possibly filesystem, partitioning, Secure Boot or swap-related decisions. You may be able to upgrade along the development path, but I wouldn’t use it as the only system if the data on that SSD is important. Keeping a backup before experimenting would be the safest approach. As KDE Linux is still early development, some of these details may change before Beta/Release, so follow the current KDE Linux documentation/issues for anything involving the installation layout.
) and would love to use it as intended™ and as you probably can tell I can’t wait for it!