POMO  Use caution: silently fails with read-only files - Version: 1.1.4

A few months back I found that several of my C++ source files were not current on my backup. As a result, I lost several days of work. I traced this problem to the following situation:

1) SK saves a read-only file to the backup.

2) The original file is changed.

3) During the next backup, SK fails to copy the changed read-only file onto the read-only version on the backup disk.

This occurs even when you have set SK to "full privilges" by entering your password.

Such a situation is likely to happen if you use a source control system that leaves files locked.

In detail, during step 3) SK changes the permissions of the backed up file to writable, but then fails to copy the changed file. If, as step 4), you do a second backup, then the changed file will be correctly copied to the backup (because the destination file is now writable). The result is that all of your changed read-only files will be backed up only every other time!

This bug is very easy to confirm by setting up a simple backup of one folder to another on your local drive.

I had a lively email exchange with LaCie about this problem, eventually diagnosing and documenting it, and giving them a clear example. Unfortunately, their final communication was "Thanks for the feedback. We will consider for the next update." That was 15-May-2006, and SK still has not been updated.

I think SK is a fine program and appreciate LaCie for providing it for free. However, this bug will bite you if you work with any read-only files that change. Until LaCie fixes it, you'll need to run SK twice to insure that such files are correctly backed up.

I hesitated to post here, but since LaCie has neither acknowledged nor fixed this bug in five months, I hope this warning will save others from a backup disaster.   
(Version 1.1.4)