Default configuration with some sensible settings

Problem:
I'm a newbee, don't know what should and what should not be captured by Timeshift outside my home directory. In it, I know exactly what should be captured by Timeshift.

The 'out of the box' configuration does not do anything and on top of that two extra lines on what not to do in total. One of it being my home directory for which I clearly want things to be included by Timeshift. That is a bit counter productive!

I want any configuration file that took time to get just right to be included in a Timeshift snapshot. What I do in my home directory is clear to me. The problem is system configuration that is located outside it. I can only guess where it is (and as usual with guessing it is a mis-or-nothing game (I will never get it right). By the time I need the configuration for a restore I will find out what I'm missing but that is a bit too late!

What I would like to see is a default configuration with some sensible things.

• included for the system in general.
• suggestions for what not to include for my home directory.

There are plenty of well informed users that can give an advise for specific systems (such as debian based, freeBSD based etc.) on what should be included. Is should be not too difficult to get to a point where some general configurations for target systems are available.
As for my home directory, I have a much better view on what I want to see in a Timeshift snapshot. For instance my latest version of .vimrc because I do not want to reinvent the last changed I made to that (just to name a file).

I have no clear-cut solution for this. I just lack all the information needed and it will take me a very long time to find out all on my own.

There really is no alternative than to ask users who know (parts of) this. Bring it all together and get a reliable snapshot that is useful for restoring at the moment it is needed.

This tool is as good as the information it gives on what to do with it. Please inform me on what and what not is sensible to include in a snapshot. Should I include all of '/etc/'? And what about all or '/usr/'? I don't know that to do!

Start by reviewing Timeshift's current out-of-the-box configuration and the existing guidance for include and exclude paths. Determine whether the intended outcome is documentation, new defaults, or system-specific profiles; done means users can understand what system and home-directory data is captured and what should be excluded.