Automator
I wrote my backup script in Automator last night. It was an interesting experience. Automator uses drag & drop entities to form workflows which are basically a script of actions to follow. I believe many of them use AppleScript behind the scenes.
First step involved writing a unix shell script to actually make my backup. Simple archiving every file in my user directory to a tarball was sufficient. I added automator actions to prompt the user if he wants to backup now, and to run the shell script. The real challenge was how to get the tar file to the PC. Finder came to the rescue. I added a Finder action to locate the tar file and another Finder action to copy it to a network drive. I finished the workflow off with a Growl action to put up a desktop notification that the backup was complete.
I added the workflow to the Apple scripts menu for convenient access. Then I made a non-interactive version and tied it to an iCal action to perform an automatic backup every week.
Automator looks like it could be a fun little tool and I like that apps, even non-Apple apps, bring their own actions to the table. There are tons to download from Apple too.
