Question: do the backup computer(s) have to be in a functional state themselves?
I always have at least one partially built computer xD
Hint: :q!
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Question: do the backup computer(s) have to be in a functional state themselves?
I always have at least one partially built computer xD
A phone is often sufficient for googeling, but if you have ssh it's nice with a secondary computer. Recovered from crashes where no input works so many times.
I remember these tough times. Doing all kinds of shit as a kid and the resolution was just to nuke it all and start anew.
I remember printing the gentoo handbook back in 2005 to have something to troubleshoot my install process.
Lmao. I thought I was the only one. I have like 5 USB sticks with 5 different distros on them all tested and working. I also have a laptop with bazziteOS so the chance of it breaking to no return is very slim. That way, I can fix my desktop if it breaks.
This was true for Windows as well.
The existing computer can serve as the "second" if you have a distro image on bootable media (and you haven't borked the hardware).
Yes, it's a PITA to have to go back and forth between bootable media and trying to reboot into the corrupted OS, but if it's all you have, it can work. And the distro on the bootable media might be all you need to make those repairs.
In related news: When did you last make a backup?
Multiple backup computers. In fact I'm a bit peeved my oldest backup computer broke.
One does not simply Linux without having a stable backup computer. π
Nah now you just switch to a TTY with a bunch of sick Rust terminal tools, or if its really borked you boot into recovery mode and mount the old filesystem and do magic spells at the filesystem until it works.
That issue is not exclusive to Linux though. Try hard enough and you can brick anything. And sometimes you don't have to do anything at all to end up with a brick.
One time that I was really glad for having a backup pc, was when I build a pc with the first generation Ryzen cpu: The pc had no display output after putting it together. After wasting much time with double checking everything, I decided to do a bios update, which solved the issue. I couldn't have done so without my old laptop at hand. Moral of the story for me: always have a backup pc.
To me it was vital to have my phone in order to tether the Internet to my computer while trying to find a way to make my "Linux compatible" wifi antenna work.
Tether, try something, stop tethering, rinse and repeat for a whole day
what? windows breaks and you need second screen... but grub never fails you. the meme is closed source propaganda.