###Background

I have an old MBP which works fine right now. I have no immediate plans to change it.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it could die at any time. I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already. Considering that and not wanting to be tied to macOS due to not having a solid cross-platform backup, here's my current backup strategy to allow either a Mac or linux based OS to be my next computer for my current data.

###modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

As you an see - I'm not decided what filesystem I should use to rsync as Time Machine backs up to HFS+ and since I haven't picked a Linux it's not clear if I want / can mount HFS+ to read the backup data.

What setup allows me to restore my data that is backed up with rsync to any Linux?

Background

I have an old MBP which works fine right now. I have no immediate plans to change it.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it could die at any time. I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already. Considering that and not wanting to be tied to macOS due to not having a solid cross-platform backup, here's my current backup strategy to allow either a Mac or linux based OS to be my next computer for my current data.

modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

As you an see - I'm not decided what filesystem I should use to rsync as Time Machine backs up to HFS+ and since I haven't picked a Linux it's not clear if I want / can mount HFS+ to read the backup data.

What setup allows me to restore my data that is backed up with rsync to any Linux?

###Background

I have an old MBP which works fine right now. I have no immediate plans to change it.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it could die at any time. I generally like Apple products and am quite fond of macOS. Not so fond of the price, and especially the lack of user serviceability, of newer MBPs. You can't swap any parts on them and I find a 500GB SSD to be really on the stingy side of storage space for professional use.

###What backup strategies do I need to adopt now to allow migrating to Linux later?

I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already.

I might very well stick with Apple when I need to replace this machine, it depends on their offering at the time. But I want to keep my options open and avoid lock-in.

Would the following approach work in practice? Any experience to share?

###modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

• any other advice? Linux installation is out of the scope of this question, which is only about how to have a portable backup that can be loaded onto Linux later.

###Background

I have an old MBP which works fine right now. I have no immediate plans to change it.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it could die at any time.   I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already. Considering that and not wanting to be tied to macOS due to not having a solid cross-platform backup, here's my current backup strategy to allow either a Mac or linux based OS to be my next computer for my current data.

###modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

As you an see - I'm not decided what filesystem I should use to rsync as Time Machine backs up to HFS+ and since I haven't picked a Linux it's not clear if I want / can mount HFS+ to read the backup data.

What setup allows me to restore my data that is backed up with rsync to any Linux?

###Background

I have a really old, 2011 MBP. 17", RAM 16GB, fast aftermarket SSD.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it to die at any time. I generally like Apple products and am quite fond of macOS. Not so fond of the price, and especially the lack of user serviceability, of newer MBPs. You can't swap any parts on them and I find a 500GB SSD to be really on the stingy side of storage space for professional use.

###What backup strategies do I need to adopt now to allow migrating to Linux later?

I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already.

I might very well stick with Apple when I need to replace this machine, it depends on their offering at the time. But I want to keep my options open and avoid lock-in.

Would the following approach work in practice? Any experience to share?

###modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

• any other advice? Linux installation is out of the scope of this question, which is only about how to have a portable backup that can be loaded onto Linux later.

###Background

I have an old MBP which works fine right now. I have no immediate plans to change it.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it could die at any time. I generally like Apple products and am quite fond of macOS. Not so fond of the price, and especially the lack of user serviceability, of newer MBPs. You can't swap any parts on them and I find a 500GB SSD to be really on the stingy side of storage space for professional use.

###What backup strategies do I need to adopt now to allow migrating to Linux later?

I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies. Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already.

I might very well stick with Apple when I need to replace this machine, it depends on their offering at the time. But I want to keep my options open and avoid lock-in.

Would the following approach work in practice? Any experience to share?

###modified backups

• keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup /Users/ via rsync as well. (what file system is my best bet here?)

• run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

• any other advice? Linux installation is out of the scope of this question, which is only about how to have a portable backup that can be loaded onto Linux later.