When comparing rsync vs Back In Time, the Slant community recommends Back In Time for most people. In the question“What are the best backup programs for Linux?” Back In Time is ranked 1st while rsync is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Back In Time is:
Although highly customizable, Back in Time is also suited for people who want an easy tool to use that will back up their data. You can use BiT simply by configuring where to save snapshots, what folders to backup and when to do it.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Fast and bandwidth efficient
Only the changed parts of files are synced. For instance, if a long log file increases by just a few lines of text, a small diff will be sent to and saved in the archive. Rsync also compresses data in transit.
Pro Works over SSH
SSH support allows sending files securely over the network by encrypting all communcation.
Pro Pre-installed on OSX and most Linux distributions
Many *nix systems bundle rsync so there's nothing to install. All you need to do is open up the terminal and start using rsync.
Pro Free and open source
Licensed under GNU.
Pro Easy to use
Although highly customizable, Back in Time is also suited for people who want an easy tool to use that will back up their data. You can use BiT simply by configuring where to save snapshots, what folders to backup and when to do it.
Pro Efficient use of storage with file-level deduplication
Pro Highly configurable
Almost all functionality of the program can be customized. It's possible to set when snapshot get removed based on age, available disk space, quantity in a set time period, you can include and exclude files, folders and filetypes, you can defer backups when on battery power, you can ignore errors, you can preserve ACL, extended attributes and so on.
Cons
Con No official GUI
To use rsync, you have to know your way around the command line.
Con Complicated, and you can accidentally overwrite the wrong files
Con Interface could be more intuitive
The program uses non-labeled, non-intuitive icons and the purpose and functionality of the file browser is not clear at first glance.
