Licensing: Migrating from Windows to Linux; Migrating email account from Outlook (Hotmail) to Proton

Support License
#1

I’m drinking deeply from the open source cup with Duplicacy having been my first dip into the waters.

I’ve now dived full in and moved completely away from the Microsoft ecosystem (and Windows) embracing all the open source goodness.

So I find myself setting up Duplicacy on Linux Mint running on the same laptop as my original Duplicacy Windows installation with a different hostname.

I’m currently dual-boot so I can get back to my original Windows installation if need be. However, from now on, Linux Mint is my platform of choice and I will be using my Duplicacy license with Linux rather than Windows.

I will be following the guidance in the forums to reassign my license to the new hostname in the portal.

Whilst it would be nice that my old Windows backups could still be restored, it is not critical so I’m good starting from scratch on Linux.

I’ve also completely migrated away from Outlook (hotmail in my case) and will eventually want to reassociate my Duplicity account with Proton Mail. I still have access to my hotmail account until mid-2027, so there is no rush. All email is currently forwarded to Proton Mail.

I will however start removing the hotmail account from all my various subscribed services sooner rather than later. I think the process is to send a request to GChen with the email transfer request when the time comes.

Anyway, today’s project is to setup Duplicacy on Linux Mint and get my first backups to the cloud out of the way. (They tend to take a while.)

Wish me luck and send me encouragement, please.

I’m saying goodbye to Big Tech spying and hello to Open Source freedom.

I’ve also gone NextCloud self-hosting as well. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
NICHM

#2

Duplicacy is not an open-source project. Some source is visible, but the license is not OSI-approved and it isn’t “free software” in the usual meaning of the term.

the rest of offtopic

Before you uproot everything, please think it through completely.

  • for email, register your own domain to stop the chain of moves and decouple your identity from a provider. Now you move away from outlook and have to update your email everywhere. In a year you will move from proton and repeat the cycle. With your own domain your email will be fixed and you can change underlying email service at will.
  • “spying on email” is not meaningful. SMTP is inherently not a secure form of communication; changing providers doesn’t change the security model.
  • Linux mint is…an interesting choice. Why not Alma or Rocky (RHEL derived)? Leaving windows is commendable and long overdue, but Mint? Please explore other Linux distributions, if you insist on Linux; but also consider FreeBSD and derivatives, if you want an actually coherent system (and not just kernel with a zoo of packages on top), with, most importantly, sane and coherent documentation. Linux is not it.
  • Make sure you understands the trade offs you are making with GNU. I personally go an extra mile to avoid anything GPL in my life, make sure you are philosophically ok with copyleft licenses. Else — FreeBSD is the way to go.

Backup to the same repo with a different snapshot ID. You cannot backup from two places with the same id. This way since you have the same data in both the backup shall be fast, and you have access to version history of both.

#3

Thanks for the info, Saspus.

I will need to research the different points you’ve mentioned.
Proton does give me the choice to register my own domain, so your suggestion is excellent for not creating lock-in
I went with Mint because it is simple and I like the interface. I tried Nobara as I’m a gamer, but found the desktop clunky.
Mint provides smooth gaming performance which is more than good enough. I’m actually quite impressed by it.
I’ll explore alternative Linux distributions later. My goal was to get off of Big Tech platforms as soon as possible now that I’ve set my mind to it. I do not want to fund greed and control.
I’ll read up on OSI-approved, GNU, GPL, FreeBSD, and copyleft licenses.
Am I right that the core command-line Duplicacy solution is open-source and free for private use, whilst the Graphical component is proprietary and not open-source?
Using my own domain name for email is really good advice before I go re-registering with all my various services. :pray:
Cheers,
NICHM
Note: The downside of using the same email alias across services is privacy and traceability. I planned on using unique generated aliases to keep my e-mail private from place to place.
That being said, using email provider created aliases might create an incredible headache should I ever move away from Proton.

#4

I have successfully moved Duplicacy over to Linux and performed a restore of a file from my previous Windows backups.

I’m all good!

btw: My next target for BigTech purge is leaving Facebook. That will be a mini project.
I think I’ll just need to rip the band-aid/plaster off all at once.

#5

And I do not know why, but backing up to OneDrive personal from Linux versus Windows 11 is night and day. The backup transfer rate is around 240MB/sec consistently under Linux Mint whilst under Windows the transfer rate was dog slow at around 20 to 30MB/sec and inconsistent (speeding up/slowing down).

#6

No, it’s source-available, free for personal use. Duplicacy license is not an OSI approved license, it’s not a free opensource software.

#7

Ah, Ok. I need to get my facts and terminology straight. Thanks for clarifying. :pray:
I have more enthusiasm than grey matter. Lessons eventually sink in. :man_shrugging:

#8

Good on you.

Don’t get too caught up in these definitions - it’s very opinionated and there are people (particularly the OSI lot) that want to stamp their own idea of what is ‘Open Source’ (note the capitalisation) and make you abide, when you don’t have to. For example, read a dissenting opinion here (Futo maintain Immich which is still GPL).

I’m also an open source guy, and appreciate FOSS, but these days I’m not gonna bother arguing the difference between ‘source-available’ and ‘open source’ (lower case) when it’s irrelevant for such a small project. Just be aware of the terminology and keep using the terms as you wish.

The most important part is ridding yourself of Big Tech and not getting locked in (which is impossible with Duplicacy since personal users can use the CLI version for free and can compile it with nobody to stop you). We pay for the GUI for the convenience.

@saspus’s recommendation re getting your own domain name is solid, but you can also bolster that by setting it up as a wildcard/catch-all domain (which Proton can do), so you can have unique addresses for every service, detect leaks and block them. I’ve been doing this for 25+ years and get no spam.

Also a very solid choice. It’s built on Debian (actually Ubuntu, but that in turn is built on Debian) and there’s always an LMDE (pure Debian) version in case the corporates at Ubuntu shaft Mint down the line. If you’re looking to self-host things like NextCloud, learning Debian is the way to go, as it’s extraordinarily stable and documented in the server space.

The only thing I’d suggest - because you’re a gamer - is to try Bazzite (or dual-boot with it), as it’s tweaked and tailored for gaming setups.

This is the way. :slight_smile: