comparison_of_backup_softwares [Wikiston]

I still haven't found the perfect backup solution for a Linux desktop. This page reports my findings.

But first, a list of my requirements, since yours may differ:

graphical interface, since my non-hacker relatives must be able to use it easily ¹⁾ preferably gtk-based
ability to backup through smb
ability to browse backups and restore single files
possibility to include/exclude single folders/file types/path patterns

I consider the following as nice bonuses:

scheduling
profiles to allow for different schedules and/ or chosen directories/files

I admit it: I'm just looking for something like Apple Time Machine, OK?

Here are the evaluations I made (in green and red, positive and negative aspects that I consider particularly relevant in the comparison):

	backintime	flyback	deja-dup	simple backup	timevault	fwbackup
GUI	nice	very nice	very nice	no GUI while backupping (so no errors reported!). All preferences are lost if the user clicks "use recommended backup settings"!	?	nice (judging from screenshots)
shows progress during backup	only file currently copied	only time elapsed (and that may be an intrinsec limitation of being based on git)	?	no (how could it without GUI?)	?	?
exclusions handling	takes apparently any regular expression - though the GUI is not very clear on that	few preset exclude options (impossible to exclude a single subfolder)	?	free choice of inclusions and exclusions	?	only provides a list (presumably of single folders/files)
can browse backupped files	?	yes, but only a list of files is provided (not organized in folders)!	no!!!	yes, but each incremental backup only shows files backupped at that time	?	?
can restore a single file	?	yes	no!!! the only available operation is "restore the whole backup"!	yes (though the operation is not very fast if the file is part of a large backup)	?	?
backup targets	only filesystem	only external filesystems	filesystem, smb?	filesystem, ssh, ftp	?	filesystem, ssh, maybe others
speed	?	very slow	good	very good	?	probably depends on “engine” used
space occupied	much (no compression)?	optimal (no replication, and only updates of non-binary files are recorded)	?	good (no replication, gzipped)	?	probably depends on “engine” used, but maybe there is no attention to replication?
other pros		can show differences between versions of (non-binary) files	nice notifications mechanism		?
other cons		Doesn't keep track of emtpy folders and folders/files permissions, doesn't allow deleting old backups. Not available in Debian repositories, neither as a tarball! Available only as a (low quality) .deb		(at least by default), only runnable by root	doesn't work with python 2.6! Last commit (as of April 2010) was in 2007!

Other apps I may want to look at: zink, grsync, areca, pybackpack.

Contributions and suggestions will be appreciated: toobaz [AT] email [GUESS WHAT… DOT!] it

¹⁾ Though I've been pointed at cron-based solutions as the ones providing less hassle for unexpert users, I do not share this view since unexperted users may be perfectly able to plug in a USB hard disk and pretend that at that time a backup occurs, and they can unplug the USB hard disk at the end.