Reinstall frequently

Once, when looking for macOS brew install automation I stumbled upon gist that has strange, counterintuitive advice: "Reinstall frequently". But in curse of time and experience I was more and more convinced by that idea. Both for system restore and resuming projects paused some time ago.

Why to reinstall system frequently?

First and foremost, the habit of reinstalling your OS frequently encourages good backups. Before reinstalling, it is essential to create backups of all your important files and data to ensure that you don't lose any critical information. This process of creating backups can be automated to make it even more efficient and convenient.

In addition to creating backups, reinstalling your OS is a great opportunity to clean up your system by removing programs, data, and documents that you no longer need. Over time, it is common for computers to accumulate a large amount of unnecessary files and programs, which can slow down the system and take up valuable storage space. By reinstalling your OS, you can start with a clean slate and only keep the programs and files that are truly important to you.

Another benefit of reinstalling your OS is that it gives you the opportunity to automate the system restore process. Instead of manually going through the process of reinstalling and reconfiguring your OS every time, you can create dedicated scripts or playbooks that automate the process. This can save a significant amount of time and effort, especially if you reinstall your OS frequently.

In summary, the habit of reinstalling your OS on a regular basis can help improve the performance and maintenance of your computer. It encourages good backups, allows you to clean up your system, and gives you the opportunity to automate the system restore process. While it may take some time and effort to reinstall your OS, the benefits are well worth it.

Additional benefits

Here are some additional benefits of frequent reinstallation of the system that were not mentioned in the previous blog post:

1. Security: Reinstalling your OS can help improve the security of your system by ensuring that all software and operating system components are up-to-date and fully patched. This can help prevent vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.

2. Performance: Over time, the performance of your computer can degrade due to a variety of factors, such as the accumulation of temporary files, registry errors, and software conflicts. Reinstalling your OS can help improve the performance of your system by removing these issues and starting with a clean slate.

3. Troubleshooting: If you are experiencing problems with your computer, such as frequent crashes or error messages, reinstalling your OS can often be an effective way to troubleshoot and fix the issue.

4. Learning opportunity: Reinstalling your OS can be a great learning opportunity, as it requires you to understand how to set up and configure your system from scratch. This can help you become more familiar with your computer and how it works, which can be useful for future troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. This is an import part of the Arch Linux approach.

5. Personalization: Reinstalling your OS gives you the opportunity to personalize your system and set it up exactly how you want it. You can choose which programs and features to install and configure your system settings to your liking.

Overall, frequent reinstallation of the system can provide numerous benefits beyond those mentioned in the previous blog post, including improved security, performance, and troubleshooting, as well as learning and personalization opportunities.