Apllication uninstallation and data backup

[vizo]

Hi,

I started working with Linux, and trying to find my way around. I have the following questions:

1- I understand that there is no equivalent of windows registry in Linux and when I install an application it is installed in the users home directory, creates an .application directory, and writes something into /etc, and maybe some other directories, how do I unstall the application if I do not want it anymore?

2- Is the Linux system and applications transportable? That is; if I copy the home directory of the user on PC1 to another PC with the same Linux (same hardware) installed, do I get the very same environment of PC1?

3- I want to backup my data; how do I know where this data resides, and backup the data?

[denniscox]

1- I understand that there is no equivalent of windows registry in Linux and when I install an application it is installed in the users home directory, creates an .application directory, and writes something into /etc, and maybe some other directories, how do I unstall the application if I do not want it anymore?

Generally, no it does not install the application into your home directory. But that really depends on your setup. Most of the time, software installation apps prompt you for the root password and install into places like /usr or /usr/local. This directory has a /bin /lib /doc /man etc subdirectories. One contains documentation, another manual pages, another the binary, another any supporting libraries (think DLLs, but not really). So, no the application isn't just stored in one spot.

2- Is the Linux system and applications transportable? That is; if I copy the home directory of the user on PC1 to another PC with the same Linux (same hardware) installed, do I get the very same environment of PC1?

Yes, you can definitely make this so. But realize answer one will play havoc, but there is ways.

3- I want to backup my data; how do I know where this data resides, and backup the data?

There are too many answers. The simplest is rsync in my opinion. I generally run a baseline run - let's say off a distro fresh install. I make sure I don't backup that data. Then I run once a week a pkginstall list (what packages at what versions I installed) and any cfg files I made along with my logs, etc and home directory (and many more to be honest). That way I'm keeping a list of what's installed, since I can easily get that back and keeping only my specific items on disk.

Hope this helps - I recommend you pick up a copy of Running Linux

[vizo]

Thanks,

About Item 1 again: How de we know which files we need to delete for uninstalling?

[denniscox]

Thanks,

About Item 1 again: How de we know which files we need to delete for uninstalling?

That really depends on your distro - for example I use Ubuntu so you can use apt-get remove pkgname. If your using a RPM based system it's rpm -e pkgname. What distro are you using?

[vizo]

Ubuntu desktop 8.04, so I have to use the synaptics, I gather. I think there is somewhere an install log that can be read by apt-get and synaptics.

If I install something without the apt-get there is no way to understand how to uninstall.

[denniscox]

Vizo - if you install via a package manager you can uninstall quite easily. If you build the application yourself (./configure && make && make install) then you need to examine the make install script to see where it puts everything.

[kostasan]

About the 3rd question: You can use clonezilla to clone a pc into one or more pcs simultaneously. It can clone windows too.