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  ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
 ░▓ about  ▓ linux configuration files (dotfiles)
 ░▓ author ▓ iyyel <[email protected]>
 ░▓ code   ▓ https://github.com/iyyel/dotfiles
 ░▓ mirror ▓ https://git.iyyel.io/iyyel/dotfiles
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• Introduction
• Managing
• Installing
• How it works
• tl;dr
• My setup
• License

In the unix world programs are commonly configured in two different ways, via shell arguments or text based configuration files. Programs with many options like window managers or text editors are configured on a per-user basis with files in your home directory ~. In unix like operating systems any file or directory name that starts with a period or full stop character is considered hidden, and in a default view will not be displayed, thus the name dotfiles.

It's been said of every console user:

"you are your dotfiles".

since they dictate how your system will look and function. To many users (see ricers and beaners) these files are very important, and need to be backed up and shared. People who create custom themes have the added challenge of managing multiple versions of them. I have tried many organization techniques and just take my word for it when I say, keeping a git repository in the root of your home directory is a bad idea. I have written custom shell scripts for moving or symlinking files into place. There are even a few dotfile managers, but they all seem to have lots of dependencies. I knew there had to be a simple tool to help me.

I manage my dotfiles with gnu stow, a free, portable, lightweight symlink farm manager. This allows me to keep a versioned directory of all my config files that are virtually linked into place via a single command. This makes sharing these files among many users and computers super simple and does not clutter your home directory with version control files.

stow is available for all linux and most other unix-like distributions via your package manager.

• sudo pacman -S stow
• sudo xbps-install -S xstow
• sudo apt-get install stow
• brew install stow

or clone it from source and build it yourself.

By default the stow command will create symlinks for files in the parent directory of where you execute the command, so my dotfiles setup assumes this repo is located in the root of your home directory ~/dotfiles and all stow commands should be executed in that directory. Otherwise you'll need to use the -d flag with the repo directory location.

To install most of my configs you execute the install.sh script, which uses stow commands. Make sure to review and understand them before running the script.

sh install.sh

note: stow can only create a symlink if a config file does not already exist. If a default file was created upon program installation you must delete it first before you can install a new one with stow. This does not apply to directories, only files. install.sh overwrites existing config files by using the -R flag.

Navigate to your home directory

cd ~

Clone the repo:

git clone http://github.com/iyyel/dotfiles

Enter the dotfiles directory:

cd dotfiles

execute install script:

sh install.sh

• Window Manager: dwm
• Bar: dwmblocks
• Terminal Emulator: st
• Shell: zsh
• Music Player: spotify-tui
• Text Editor: nvim
• Web Browser: firefox
• Color theme: gruvbox