I have multiple snapshots of my systemβliterally a point in time saved with a name and a date. I can go back to a few different points in time to test things that could break the system and revert to any time in the past that I created or that the system itself created when installing an update.
#BackToTheFuture This is the KILLER FEATURE! #FreeBSD
@mcfate Imagine you want to test a potentially malicious program on your Mac. Start by creating a snapshot with the following command:
doas bectl create MacOS-Californication16.6-202401102
This operation takes mere milliseconds to complete. Next, reboot your system into the newly created boot environment. Once youβre booted into the new environment, install and run that dubious program.
@mcfate At the end of the day, if you decide that itβs not worth keeping, simply reboot your Mac back into your original boot environment, effectively reverting your system to its previous state without any traces of the program.
@mcfate Meanwhile all the work on your /Users/macfate stays the same, your don't lose changes.
Yeah, but that happens anyway.
The system I DO the work on is rarely the system I TEST the work on, if it's that sort of thing.
I wouldn't test a "potentially malicious program" on "my Mac". I have PREVIOUS Macs I can test stuff like that on.
@mcfate I never do either, I was giving you a non realistic scenario, but for servers and stuff like virtual machines this is it.
Well, everything I do is on MY network, I'm the developer AND the client.