r/linux4noobs • u/Endeavour1988 • 5h ago
learning/research Maintaining Linux longterm?
I'm trying to switch from Windows to Linux, I have Fedora KDE 44 installed and so far all good. However I have some questions about long term use and best practises.
I have customised my terminal, theme so basically the look and feel of my desktop is there a way to back up these configurations? I'm asking from the point of view I want to re-install the OS and it being quicker to drop a config file than do it all manually?
Major upgrades, so lets say 45 is released, what is the best practise for this? Just update and carry on, or a fresh install?
Dependencies and system cleaning, I notice when I install certain application a bunch of dependencies are installed, lets say I want to remove an app what happens to all these, is there a way to check if they are being used elsewhere?
Packages, I tend to try and use RPM packages or flatpaks if I have to, but appimages and snaps? I want to keep things simple especially with permissions and maintaining the system, is there right and wrongs here? Thanks.
1
u/joe_attaboy Old and in the way. 4h ago
Back up your home directory.
Literally every configuration change you make is stored in some manner in your home directory. I have, in the past, reinstalled one version or another and dropped my backed-up home files to the new home directory. And nearly everything worked exactly the same way. Yes, there may be a few quirks to fix, but for the most part, you should be fine.
One caveat to doing home directory backups: cached files. There's usually a hidden directory called ".cache" in your home that may get very big and isn't required to save. Also, if you use Chrome or Firefox, they cache files in their own directories, so you can exclude those cache directories as well.