I’m having trouble understanding all the benefits of BTRFS and how they’ll apply to me.

Copy on Write and auto-compression seem like they will free up a bit of space.

What other practical benefits will I see from using BTRFS? Are there any noticeable performance benefits?

I use my computer to dual-boot. I don’t need snapshots because I have a custom script for a fresh install. I use my PC for gaming and work. I’ve got an NVMe, two SSD’s and one HDD.

Thanks in advance!

  • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
    7·
    1 year ago

    I’ve installed Timeshift and added the necessary hooks. Now my system gets snapshot’d on every update and the snapshots get added to the GRUB boot menu.

    If an update breaks the boot, I can hit the reset button and just boot the old version that still works.

    Linux may not have something as powerful as System Restore on Windows, but this comes pretty close.

    CoW is pretty bad for performance so you should turn it off in certain cases if you can spare the disk space. The same goes for compression. Both concepts work excellently whens applied to the right files, but they’re not magic.

    Timeshift works on other filesystems through hard links and rsync, but the BTRFS support is more powerful.