Understanding Deucalion¶
You don't need to read this section to use Deucalion, but it explains what happens behind the buttons, in plain language. Each page is short.
| Page | In one sentence |
|---|---|
| One copy, and Removed Files | The drive holds one up-to-date copy of your files; old versions go to Removed Files, which only you empty. |
| The manifest | A small database on the drive remembers what Linux-only details a plain drive can't store. |
| File names on exFAT | Why some names look slightly different on the drive, and why they come back exactly right. |
| Full and partial backups | Back up everything, or quickly update a few folders. |
| The system recipe | A readable description of your apps and settings, saved with every full backup. |
| What a rebuild restores | What Deucalion puts back on a new computer, and what it deliberately leaves alone. |
| Administrator access | When Deucalion asks for your password, and why that part is kept small. |
| How your data is protected | The promises Deucalion makes, and how they were tested. |
The words used on this site¶
The same words are used everywhere for the same things. The glossary has the full list. The most important ones:
- Backup drive: the external drive (or the part or folder of it) where Deucalion keeps your backup.
- Backup: the copy of your files on the backup drive, in a folder called
Deucalion-Backup. - Removed Files: old versions of changed files and files deleted from your computer, kept on the
drive in a folder called
_removed. - System recipe: the description of your apps, software sources and settings, saved with full backups. The app calls it system settings.
- Undo folder:
Deucalion-before-restorein your home folder, where Deucalion keeps anything a restore replaced. - Lock and unlock: close or open an encrypted backup drive with its password. In the
terminal, these are
deucalion closeanddeucalion open.