What system files/dirs do you back up?

I just took a look at some of my backup scripts that I wrote not too long after switching to Linux. I realized that I'd included some things which are probably useless but I'm not sure about some others, so I'd like to know what others back up and why.
I'm fairly sure that all of /etc is worth backing up but I don't know about /var. I compress the local database and save that but I see no reason to save the sync database. I see no reason to back up the package cache either unless I'm using an old version of something. What else is worth backing up in /var? What about the rest of /?
What do you back up outside of /home?

Blue Peppers wrote:
Xyne wrote:@Blue Peppers
It seems like a waste of time to reconfigure everything that stores files in /etc (vsftp, apache, ssh, etc). I also wouldn't want to reinstall everything due to a single partition failing, whether or not the initial installation is relatively fast.
How often does your root partition fail? It happens rarely enough for me, that I don't mind reconfiguring everything over again. I see it as a opportunity to learn, and if it takes longer than half an hour, then so be it. It's no inconvenience to me, and it needn't be to most people. I have a list of apps that I need, ~/.config files for them and no strange configureations anywhere else.
Back when I had just started linux, I was reinstalling (minus backups) every 2 weeks or so. I didn't have a clue, but by re-working those lost configuration files, I learnt how they worked. As I still don't feel I know enough about archlinux, I see losing the files as, while not being a good thing, not a bad thing.
/etc is like 30MB for me...no reason not to back it up. As mentioned, there are many config files that would be a pain to reconfigure. Plus, I don't see how you would "learn" how they work, after already taking the time to configure them in the first place. I really don't wanna reconfigure all those, especially all my web server stuff. Doesn't make much sense.

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