I try to find cross platform options for any software. I moved from Android to iOS a few years ago and always think I may move back so it’s nice to keep options open. That being said though, the apple ecosystem works so well with everything within it I sometimes double pay for services just to also have the convenience that comes with the ecosystem.

I like the exports that Day One does if you’ve ever used that journaling app before (they do multiple kinds of exports). JSON, for if I need to write a script to import the data somewhere else. TXT for something nice and human readable. CSV for whoever wants to use this format lol. They also got a pdf printout just to make things look pretty. As for imports, I think they have import options for their competitor’s export options, but I’ve only used this once and I don’t remember the option I used.

But if it came down to just one, I’d say JSON is the most important for me. The other ones are just nice to have but not critical.

And np, I didn’t want you thinking everyone thought it was too expensive.

Is there an import/export backup feature of the data? One of the biggest hold backs for me when installing an app that’ll take me some time to set up is the fear I might have to restart if it gets abandoned.

Also, $8 one time payment is totally fine in my opinion. It’s a one time payment and probably a useful app.

To add onto this, has anyone found a good way to combine the metadata back into the photos from Google takeout? I’ve found two solutions on Google, one was send it off to some company and pay them to do it and the other has me run some pre compiled exe file. 

I’m starting to think I’ll just have to live without the metadata or write my own solution.

Kinda unrelated, but if I restart my computer for whatever reason, will the containers and volumes be wiped out?

Idk, maybe? I’m a docker noob. How hard is it to redeploy a docker container and keep my photos?

Yeah the only thing I’ll need to backup will just be the photos. This machine is just gonna run Ubuntu server so I can try out a bunch of other self hostable services for fun. I’ll take a look into Borg though! Always appreciate any suggestions.

I just googled restic, so does it just create a single encrypted backup file you can upload to backblaze b2 cloud storage? I will definitely look into that.

For now, immich is just another safety net. I’ve got my photos backed up to iCloud photos as well as Google Photos. It’s not a price or privacy thing so much as a just in case Google or Apple decides to shut down my account for whatever reason.

I may skip running two hdd’s in raid 1 though if restic and b2 can restore all my files if the drive fails. Have you done this before? Is it difficult to restore to a backup?

I just downloaded their docker compose file and I see I can specify the absolute location on my machine so I think you’re right. Thanks!