I guess I’ll start backing up my stuff like you told me. At least could you point me in the right direction by recommending a suitable backup solution that preferably is compatible in both Windows and Linux and is beginner friendly?

You’ve got no choice other than to grind it out and get your shit organized.

I didn’t want to believe it, but sadly it’s true. It’s going to take a long time for me to search for all my files, but if it’s the only right way to go, then so be it.

Despite the poor name, File History is actually a legitimate backup solution offered by Windows.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/backup-and-restore-with-file-history-7bf065bf-f1ea-0a78-c1cf-7dcf51cc8bfc

I’m stating that the vendor lock-in nature of this backup prevents me from directly importing this backup from Windows to Linux.

I think I have misued the word ‘critical’ in my comment. I wish to correct it by stating I simply have documents and photos important to me that I wish to preserve like any other person. It’s just that I am not in a financial situation to keep three separate copies of my data, excluding the hard drive I’m lending only for the migration.

I also want to state that I am not looking for a backup solution in this post. I simply wish to transfer my files from Windows to Linux and was hoping for a tool to automate the process of doing so.

The only backup solution Windows readily gives me is made in a manner that locks me in their ecosystem so I can’t really use it to migrate to Linux. Could you suggest a different solution perhaps?

My only viable backup strategy for Windows so far is to use the File History option in the Control Panel to create incremental backups of my system. There are two issues with this approach with regard to using it for migration:

1. Not all directories to be backed up are accounted for. I’ve set the backup so that only the most important files in the default directories are saved in case something happens to the system. I could consider manually including the missing entries if not for the second issue:
2. The backups can only be read within the File History menu. The backups themselves are stored in a semi-gibberish manner so it is impractical for me to have it read in Linux, unless there is already a solution for it. Otherwise these backups force me to continue using Windows.

I understand the importance of backups and regularly practice doing so, even if not to the fullest extent. However this scenario is different, where I am actively migrating all my data to a different platform. I need to make sure no data is left behind in the process, including data that I normally don’t back up separately, like user configuration for applications or game saves.

What I am looking for is a program that readily makes my Windows data ready for migration to Linux by fetching the files from directories where user data and application data is stored and stores it in a platform-agnostic manner in some external location.

I recall reading about a murder case where the blood of the killer was preserved back when DNA sampling technology was nonexistent and the court knew the identity of the killer but couldn’t prove it. A decade later the same blood sample was tested when DNA fingerprint became viable and matched with the killer, proving him guilty.

I can understand your reasoning now. Knowing some trace of my DNA could be preserved for years or decades just to profile me on a molecular level seems sufficiently dystopian. Thanks for letting me know

Could you tell me more on why having the DNA of a person is a “privacy endgame”? I don’t have much knowledge on DNA sampling and applications like in 23andMe, but isn’t it ultimately used for identification? Government IDs like SSN seem to already hold all information about you and your relation with others. Besides if they are so keen on collecting your DNA, they could just collect it without your knowledge from the places you stay or work at or anywhere in between.

I just shifted my entire workspace from brave to waterfox a few weeks ago! Now I have to do it again…

I know Librewolf exists, but I have reserved it for only personal and private use. I also know I could use containers too but my work use requires websites where I need the canvas API and DRM, and I don’t want to unharden my Librewolf installation for them which is why I want to store my ‘work’ workspace in a separate browser altogether. Is there some other Firefox fork I could use for desktop?

Just like Zeus and Odysseus!

Imfathomable

How do you actually play this game? I’m not into card games in general but this one seems oddly interesting

I think you misspelt ‘terrific’

Happy cake day!

I unironically have a wallpaper just like that. I love taking screenshots of games I play and putting them on my desktop. Some of them tend to be rather bright, but they get covered by other windows most of the time so they aren’t really a bother.

That is a behemoth of a homelab you have set up there. My jaw would’ve dropped out if it could.

And I still refuse to use the ‘Complete and Instant Annihilation of the Final Boss’ potion since I may need it in the future.

Thanks for your response. I already have Joplin synced with my server as a solution for my documentation. However I meant to ask how you structure your documentation, know what and how to mention, and organise it for future reference.

You do have a point. I think I may be overthinking this after all. I’ll just try to talk with them about this upfront.

You’re right. I cannot avoid it completely. Sometimes I use it unknowingly through some other online service intermediate or work in projects among peers who do use AI. What I should’ve said is I avoid using it to the best of my ability.

1. My complaint is with commercially available generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude etc. The fact that they are being proposed as solution to every conceivable problem without addressing its drawbacks to equal standards and everyone accepting it as such is what’s wrong to me.
2. I wish to inform them of the implications of using these services what others failed to do. I do believe some people would consider reducing their uses if not stop altogether if they heard what it really is and what they contribute to by using it.

It’s hard but right to admit that I’m coming off as an ‘AI vegan’ with what I’ve said earlier. I don’t want to be casted out for not wanting to use something just for the sake of it, like with other mainstream social media.

This is a brilliant idea! I was wondering whether talking subjectively would be detrimental to my point, but having it explained this way is so much better. I think the key point here is to not berate the other person for using AI in between this explanation.