[rdiff-backup-users] rdiff-backup vs. rsync(d) at the remote end

[roland]

Hello !

while thinking about (and digging into) how rdiff-backup is working 
internally, i wonder a little bit about rdiff-backup being needed at the 
remote end.

wouldn`t rsync(d) be sufficient for this (in theory) ?

i`m asking this, because it's a lot easier and more "lightweight" to install 
rsync(d) on the clients you need to backup.

regarding "what's being transferred over the wire or being done at the 
remote end" - can someone explain the difference between rdiff-backup and 
rsync and give a comment about possible replacement of rdiff-backup with 
rsync(d) ?

regards
roland

ps:
actually, i even have one machine i need to rsync first to a local directory 
and rdiff-backup from that, because i'm not allowed to install python on 
that machine. so this takes twice the space on my backup machine.