update: Using the tar command, I have created a tar archive that respects symlinks, so there aren’t any duplicated files, hooray! Now I will go install EndeavourOS, wish me luck!

I was told that I might be able to get help in a dedicated community. I am using rsync to backup my home directory to an external SSD (I will rsync the other way later, this is because I will be reinstalling to a different distro). My laptop uses btrfs while the SSD uses exFAT. When sending files over, file sizes are WAY bigger, the home directory is around 385 GiB and there is over 700 GiB of free space, but it was unable to fit midway through transfer. I partially solved this by uninstalling problematic programs, like Steam and Kdenlive (which can be reinstalled later) and removing large files that I didn’t need. Some of the bulk is also due to fit repos it seems (someone said those have loads of links or something?)

The external SSD has files already on it that isn’t part of the home directory backup for distro hopping, and it will be used by Windows users (my family) so I can’t reformat it. I might buy another external SSD for this purpose if using exFAT to backup is a real problem.

Now that I have successfully transferred my home directory with barely any space to spare, I have a few additional questions:

Once I reinstall and distrohop, will the symlinks come back when going from exFAT to BTRFS or are they gone forever and I’m stuck with massive files?

Will there be any additonal incompatibilities when copying the home directory from exFAT to BTRFS?

Is it safe to use an exFAT drive as a backup for the home directory, or is it better for me to wait until I can get an external SSD that I can reformat to be btrfs?

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41202990

update: I was able to copy it! There are still some folders that are really big (as many have said, it is probably because symlinks aren’t supported in exFAT. When I transfer these files over to btrfs, will the symlinks come back or are they permanently gone?) but, with the uninstallation of Steam and Kdenlive (each taking a ridiculous amount of storage), removing a couple games I don’t really play, and removing old folders that lingered around from already uninstalled programs means I now have enough space to fit my home folder in the SSD (like 23 GiB left, so the lack of symlinks still hurts, but still, it fits!)

When running

rsync -Paz /home/sbird "/run/media/sbird/My Passport/sbird"

As told by someone, I run into a ran out of storage error midway. Why is this? My disk usage is about 385 GiB for my home folder, and there is around 780 GiB of space in the external SSD (which already has stuff like photos and documents). Does rsync make doubly copies of it or something? That would be kind of silly. Or is it some other issue?

Note that the SSD is from a reputable brand (Western Digital) so it is unlikely that it is reporting a fake amount of storage.

EDIT: Wait, is it because my laptop SSD is BTRFS and the external SSD is exFAT? Could that be the issue? That would be kind of weird, why would files become so much more bigger with the external SSD?