[Frameworks] Mac OS Catalina

[Fred Camper]

On 1/10/2020 12:35 PM, Adam Hyman wrote:
> First, to help others before they run into this, there are several 
> general rules before updating an Operating System.
> 1. Always backup everything to an external hard drive
> 2. Always backup everything to a second external hard drive
>
I was going to reply similarly, but did not want to seem obnoxious about 
it. I second, third, and fourth Adam's comments. Perhaps these warnings 
will benefit others, though I thought everyone knew to back up by now.  
It has been known for decades that hard drives can fail unexpectedly and 
unpredictably. All hard drives. I actually have four complete physical 
backups, on multiple exterma; hard drives, and they are divided into two 
different locations, in case of burglary or fire. Also consider 
additional cloud backup. I used to have that, and am planning to add it 
again. One should never depend on a single computer for data.

Similarly, I no longer accept "my computer crashed" (the modern 
equivalent of the old "The dog ate my homework") from students. My 
syllabi now required backing up assignments to a cloud service while you 
work. In a crash, go to a library computer and continue. If there is a 
massive failure of, say, a Microsoft cloud backup, yes, I will accept 
that as an excuse.

In Dominic's case, though, could the files still exist, and just not be 
readable by this new "insanely great" trash-the-past OS?

I have never used Apple. I really loathe Apple, but will spare you the 
reasons here. But there is also a lesson from the PC world, going back 
25 years to Windows95: it can be unsafe to switch a computer to a new 
OS. Therefore, I have never done this. The reasons make sense; a new OS 
changes a lot of things, and there might even be hardware 
incompatabilities. Wait until you get a new computer with a new OS.

Fred Camper
Chicago
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