This is probably a dopey question, but hey--just consider the source, OK?

Simple situtation:

Working in Ubuntu using Nautilus file manager in tree view, I want to back up my /home/jim_d/Music folder to a usb flash drive.

I plug in a usb flash drive and confirm it's mounted. In the Nautilus folder tree, the flash drive appears in two places:

As an icon labeled 4.0GB Filesystem
...and in the Ubuntu root folder tree as:
/media/2854-XXXX

So I can paste the folder using either the 4.0GB Filesystem icon, or the /media/2854-XXXX folder, correct?

I guess I'm confused about the "why" of two separate representations of the usb drive, wonder about some hidden "gotcha" and don't want to assume anything. In windows I was accustomed to seeing an icon for an external, but seeing one in Linux confuses me because I read all devices are mounted into the file tree--in this case as /media/2854-XXXX. So I'm not clear on the purpose of the flash icon--maybe it's just a Nautilus thing, with no significance?

Another Q about backups: Is there some advantage to using a dedicated backup tool, compared to a simple UI source-select/copy, then destination-select/paste like I'm doing?

Yo!

Okay, about dopey questions...you're talking to the champ here (me) but hey, as they say over here "questions are not stupid, as long as you learn from the ansers..."

Nuf said. Yes, if I plug in a flash/thumb drive, there are two icons, that is normal. In the file browser it apears as a device and on the desktop it behaves as a folder (on my desktop) - so, yes, that's normal. In fact, mine (Arch) opens a fresh file browser as well...talk about service...

Yes ... and no. If you want to make a backup as means of a copy (music, pictures, ...) then a copy-n-paste should do. As your flash drive is not plugged in all the time, a "cron" to do a backup would be silly...as there is no guarantee there is even a drive to gobble it up...

If you have a dedicated "fixed" setup (external drive, network drive, internal FTP server in the LAN, ...) I'd recommend rsync:
http://www.linuxmanpages.com/man1/rsync.1.php
and maybe even this
http://www.linuxbasement.com/content...sync-bash-cron

Enjoy, and please keep the questions comming. I learn from these, did ya know that?



Thor