Feature request: Additional non-rsync backup methods

[LunarWatcher]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Rsync 3.4.3 and newer is AI slop, and currently has several open security vulnerabilities and other critical bugs (including some link-related ones) caused by said AI slop:

• Please Do Not Vibe Fuck Up This Software RsyncProject/rsync#929
• rsync over ssh with relative basis --link-dest=../snap.1 can fail with "failed verification -- update discarded" in 3.4.3 RsyncProject/rsync#928
• wire value modtime_nsec out of range regression with io.c in version 3.4.3 RsyncProject/rsync#927
• rrsync refuses "absolute" source path (starting with /) RsyncProject/rsync#922
• Security fix breaks --link-dest via rsync daemon RsyncProject/rsync#915
• rsync: multiple new bugs and regressions reported upstream void-linux/void-packages#60825 (third party aggregate issue for more external reports of these bugs)

Considering timeshift is backup software, this amount of risk forced me to uninstall timeshift. I have not attempted to test how the rsync update affects timeshift. A few of the bugs appear to screw around with stuff that timeshift appears to be using, and I'd prefer not screwing up my disk if timeshift is affected.

Currently, aside switching my entire filesystem over to brtfs, my only option is to discontinue my use of timeshift, whereas I would like to not do that.

Describe the solution you'd like

Add a non-rsync, non-filesystem-specific backup method. Switching to a non-slop fork of rsync would also work, though it doesn't look like any exist yet (?)

Describe alternatives you've considered

Finding alternate backup software that isn't at the mercy of problems introduced by an upstream AI slop dependency. Unfortunately, due to how stable rsync has been prior to its AI-sloppification, the vast majority of backup software I can find is either rsync-based or proprietary

[Firebladedoge229]

not sure if this is just me, but after updating rsync, my cpu usage got so bad during my daily backups that i had to stop timeshift from running forever

hopefully a way to fix this will be found soon 🙏

[billyswong]

rsync in Ubuntu repository is version 3.4.1 up till today. And the LTS policy means that Linux Mint will not get anything newer than that until perhaps LM 24, a few years into the future.

this amount of risk forced me to uninstall timeshift.

You shouldn't need to worry this much to the point of uninstalling Timeshift now.

[LunarWatcher]

You shouldn't need to worry this much to the point of uninstalling Timeshift now.

Apparently managed to omit this bit by mistake, but I'm currently using arch, where 3.4.3 is a problem now. Timeshift is available on several distros with faster update cycles where this is a problem now. Through sheer luck, the timeshift backup didn't get the chance to run a backup between me updating and someone else sharing a link to the ongoing sloppification of rsync

[Firebladedoge229]

You shouldn't need to worry this much to the point of uninstalling Timeshift now.

im sorry but it was genuinely killing my computer
i had to restart every time a timeshift backup started due to the immense lag it caused on my system (it essentially just froze my entire pc)

also im not on LM