[PLUG] rdiff-backup issue

[John Jason Jordan]

On Tue, 2 Feb 2010 15:50:00 -0800 (PST)
Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> dijo:

>On Tue, 2 Feb 2010, John Jason Jordan wrote:
>
>> The problem is the first line "python setup.py install." In English
>> "install" is a transitive verb, that is, it requires a direct object
>> argument. I.e., install *something*.
>
>John,
>
>   Don't they insist on fluency in computer in a linguistics program?
> The
>above command is telling python to install what it finds in setup.py;
>in your case, rdiff-backup. The README you quoted also told you that
>you could build the executable (i.e., compile it) but not install the
>executable in /usr/bin by issuing the command 'python setup.py build'
>instead of 'python setup.py install'. Both are reflectsive commands.
>Self-referential, if you will.
>
>> Presumably I should make the command say "python setup.py install
>> rdiff-backup," but I need to be in the right directory first. And I
>> can't find the right directory.
>
>   No, don't change the command. The python install tools are smart
> enough to
>read what's in setup.py. Trust it; it works. There's a different
>setup.py for each python package you install, and each is specific to
>that tool.
>
>> I think I am subscribed to the rdiff-backup mailing list, so I am
>> going to ask there. Or maybe I'll take it to the Fedora forums
>> instead/also.
>
>   With the latest python installed with fedora-11, try uninstalling
>rdiff-backup and reinstalling. I don't know if the fedora package is
>pre-built or has the source. If there's a source rpm for rdiff-backup
>that might be the one to use. Shrug. Too many years since I ran Red
>Hat.

Now I am not sure the problem is with python/rdiff-backup
incompatibility. I just installed pybackpack, which is a GUI front end
for rdiff-backup. As I write this it is happily making a backup. The
only problem is that it does not allow me to access all the
possibilities and features of rdiff-backup from the command line. For
example, it can exclude only whole folders, not files based on wild
cards. I have a lot of distro ISOs scattered around and it would be
silly to back them up, so my script excludes *.iso.

As soon as the backup finishes I'll try running the script again. Maybe
there really was an incompatibility issue and the installation of
pybackpack fixed it.