Hi, I'm working on a custom version of a GNU/Linux live distribution. I need to add/remove packages, edit scripts... I work in an unsquashed filesystem (squashfs-root/) used as root for chroot. I'm wondering which is the best way to manage my work. Should I create a git repo and add squashfs-root/? My main fear is messing up chroot env and cannot go back to a working version. Thanks, hamen
UPDATE: I'll give a try to rdiff-backup. Thank you.
Automate everything you do and just version the scripts you use to create your distribution. That way you can always re-create your distribution in case you messed something up.
git would work for that, it's useful as TimeMachine/System Restore. I use it like that for my /etc dir. If it's small enough, you could push it to github, and use it as a backup and distribution mechanism.
The problem with git (and other source control suites) is that it doesn't handle permissions and special files very well.
etckeeper is a set of scripts on top of git to manage /etc. That can already provide you with much security.
Finally, you say you're running from a chroot(). This would allow you easy backups from outside of the chroot, e.g. with rdiff-backup, which creates nice compact on-disk representation while still allowing you to browse the most recent version directly.