On Time Machine in Mac OS X (10.6), if you add /System to the exclusion list (items that should not be included in backups), it offers to exclude all "System Files and Applications" as well. What exactly does this list consist of? Does it include everything that's not in my home directory (inside /Users)? Is there any benefit in excluding some of these (say /System) and not the rest?
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1See also apple.stackexchange.com/questions/179011/….– James McMahonNov 3, 2015 at 19:36
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I want to hazard a guess and say that "System Files and Applications" is everything outside of your /Users home directory. Choosing to exclude one over the other would be pointless. If your goal is to choose between backing up your data versus backing up your computer, you should treat all system files as a whole unit, not as individual pieces. The UNIX philosophy, to which Mac OS X mostly adheres, scatters system files across many different directories, and excluding one over another will most likely result in an incomplete and nonfunctional computer backup.
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That would be awesome, but it's not it. A bunch of stuff outside the Users folder will continue to be backed up, i.e. Applications that are not installed by default. Nov 4, 2015 at 11:58
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According to tests by James McMahon, more than just
/Usersgets backed up. Nov 10, 2017 at 7:32 -
Based on James' research, I want to hazard a guess that
/Application/3rd Party.appgets backed up as well (1) because Apple can't guarantee any other way to restore it and (2) because.appapplications are relatively standalone once macOS has been installed. (Perhaps apps from the App Store are excluded from the backup?) Will instead try to exclude folders manually (or perhaps using Kraymer's deus_ex_tmachina). Nov 10, 2017 at 7:38