I know I'm retarded but how do I switch distros without losing files. Thinking of switching from manjaro to solus

I know I'm retarded but how do I switch distros without losing files. Thinking of switching from manjaro to solus.

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This is why you learn to partition

1) cp -r /home some_backup_device/
2) *change distro*
3) ???
4) Bazinga

>Option 1
Move all your shit to the cloud

>Option 2
Move all your shit to an external hard drive

>Option 3
kys

>Option 4
jk

This

Do what I do with my laptop
>Remove harddrive
>Put new harddrive in
>Install new distro
>Copy files on demand

do like i did and buy a backup hard disk. I had a twin hdd for that reason but when i accidentally hosed my files by mixing up sda and sdb i bought a third hdd to have a different manufacturer label.

>I switch distros without losing files
step 1
install debian
step 2
you don't have to change distros ever.

i use a home partition, move the user folder to user.bak, install new system (make a "user" user), copy the files i need from user.bak to user, remove the rest because it may fuck up configuration between package versions.

cp -a
faglord

debian is hard to install

Easy, this is what I do:
1. Keep your home folder on a separate partition.
Make a backup of any important configs you think you might need on your home partition.
2. When you install, do a custom partition scheme, and be careful not to delete the home partition.
3. There is no step 3, you're done.

No, it most certainly isn't.

If you honestly believe this, then turn your computer off and walk away from it. Forever.

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Wow I just use a separate home partition. I even moved my home folder between laptops (just copying it obviously). This is what having a separate home partition is for: independence from the operating system.

fpbp

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Why didnt you just write in the labels with a marker?

This is why you have a separate home partition.

You're SUPPOSED to have the installation on one partition, the root partition, and all your files on the /home partition. That way when you want to install a new distro all you have to do is overwrite the root partition and then keep the /home partition; all you have to do is mount /home and you're good to go.

t.Torvalds

No, wrong, thats why you learn to split your backups in the cloud.

Nice try NSA.

kys

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>No, wrong, thats why you get social engineered to put your personal files in someone elses computer.

t. Kevin

OP, don't copy a command with -r in it. Helpful hint.

>install debian
>doesn't even have sudo

Why would you switch from Manjaro, a functional low-maintenance rolling distro with pacman and access to AUR, to Solus, a garbage distro developed by snowflakes who still can't justify using their retarded eopkg for package management and restricting the userbase to internal repos?

Have partition for /home/ and /.
This way you can hop through distro's.

Get an external disk and back up your data. You should always have a back up. Also always assume that any disk visible to an install medium can be destroyed by that install medium.

If you have four partitions, /boot, swap, /, and /home, and /home is /dev/sda4, 95% of the time Linux system installer GUIs are gonna not clobber your /dev/sda4 partition, but they might, and if they do, you're fucked.

Ideally you would have a zpool on top of a LUKS volume and zfs snapshot your $HOME to move it to another LUKS volume on a separate external disk.

External USB 3.0 SSDs are cheap and fast these days.