I’m trying to install Debian 13 (Trixie) with BTRFS configured to work with TimeShift. Because installing on a BTRFS filesystem apparently only gives you a @rootfs subvolume which is not only lame, but also incompatible with tools like TimeShift or Snapper.
I’ve been trying to set it up on Debian with very little success. I’ve followed some how-tos but keep ending up with a broken GRUB entry, or broken fstab or other bullshit. I’ve tried configuring it during installation with the non-graphical installer, or after installation is complete by creating and renaming subvolumes, moving files, etc. But it’s a such fucking chore. At least Ubuntu automated this and created all the subvolumes correctly.
I really want to be using Debian for it’s stability and also because I’ve become very used to the Debian apt package management system through Ubuntu. There seems to be a lot more documentation on Debian than OpenSUSE Tumbleweed also. But this BTRFS thing is a real challenge for me.
The layout I’m trying to use is the following:
@ - /
@home - /home
@var - /var
@tmp - /tmp
@swap - swap “partition”. (That’s how Ubuntu set it up)
@snapshots - /.snapshots (For Timeshift and btrfs-grub I think)
If you have any advice to give me on how to set this up with the least problems possible, please let me know.
I’ve been shopping around for my next Linux distro. I’m moving away from Ubuntu after having used it since it’s creation in 2004.
I think I might settle on Debian, but OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is really getting my attention.
I’m avoiding anything too bleeding edge because I want to minimize any problems. I don’t have any time to troubleshoot my PC. I just want something stable that works. So distros like Arch are out of the question.
Fedora seems to hit the sweet spot, but doesn’t have multimedia codecs out of the box or any easy way to install NVidia drivers out of the box either. Which I find ridiculous to be missing in a distro in 2026. I also hate how RedHat, the parent company, is also a genocide enabler by providing software and services to the Israeli government and their army. (Source1, source2) And they’re also an American company. So fuck 'em. Who knows what bullshit they’re about to add in their repos and how they’re going to manipulate their software packages.
There’s OpenSUSE Tumbleweed that seems very nice. Not quite bleeding edge, but on the edge at least. It’s got Snapper that takes snapshots before each update so you can roll-back via the grub menu which is really nice. But I find it has a LOT less community support and documentation than any other popular distros. And if you download an RPM for a 3rd party driver (like the printer for example) chances are there will be unmet dependencies because it was meant for Red Hat.
Then there’s Debian. Trusted. Stable. Community-led. A bit late, but 2 years ain’t that bad. It’s about the same with Ubuntu. More documentation. A bigger community. Compatible with Ubuntu for troubleshooting most of the time. But requires LOT more manual work to set it up.
Seriously, Debian needs to get up to speed in the user friendliness and usability department.
It’s also relatively stable apparently. Even if the packages are more recent.
It’s just the community support and the occasional broken package dependencies that could be a problem.
And yeah Tumbleweed comes with Snapper by default and it’s configured in a way not supported by timeshift. Which I wish I could use to easily plan images or make manual ones before I fuck up while trying something.
As someone with more of a legacy workflow where I simply put backups of my machine on my NAS regularly can you describe what differs between Snapper and Timeshift? Can’t you use Snapper as a replacement?
I’m not sure.
I know timeshift can do both btrfs snapshots and rsync backups.
Snapper I think only does btrfs snapshots. (Correct me on this)
I don’t know if your know how btrfs works, but you can separate your partition into subvolumes. (For example for your /, home, var, …)
Timeshift and Snapper use different subvolume schemas and names.
Also, Snapper automatically puts a new entry in your grub menu for every snapshot created, which allows you to boot back into that state and restore it. Timeshift doesn’t have that feature. You have to install grub-btrfs or something and configure it accordingly.
I only have a vague understanding of btrfs and its subvolume structure.
It sounds to me like Snapper + Borg / BorgUI would give you better btrfs snapshots with the built in grub menu entries and better backups than Timeshift alone.