x GNU tar
x GNU shellutils
x GNU moreutils
+x git (backup machine only)
How to prepare your computer:
x mount your huge partition (we use /backup).
to your other computers as root without a password. scary.
x put this software in a directory (we use /home/backup/)
x put the name of your computers in /home/backup/conf/computers.unix
+x put the global config file in /home/backup/conf/backup.config,
+ adjust to taste
x the fifth field (of the partitions you want to back up) in
/etc/fstab on your clients should be >0