I’m wondering if there is a new tool out there that I’m missing out on.
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Git and symbolic links still.
Ive heard good things about GNU Stow.
If you’re using symlinks, you should definitely check out Stow.
That’s the way I do it, although I have a custom script that generates the symlinks for me. Not sure why I’d need anything more
I prefer to keep tooling for that at a minimum. Therefore I use git only. My approach is taken from here: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/dotfiles The only difference: My git alias is
dotfilesnotconfig. I find that to be less confusing. Additionally, I source system-specific configs, where appropriate. These are not stored in dotfiles. There is a small todo section in my readme.I do the same! It works quite well.
https://www.chezmoi.io/ if you’ve got some complexity with your setup. otherwise, could be overkill.
Had a homebrew Git setup for ages and recently started using Chezmoi. It’s only been a few weeks, but so far it’s been pretty great!
What I really like about chezmoi is how it can retrieve secrets stored on Bitwarden. Your git history is clean of secrets but you can have them referenced on your dotfiles.
I use Chezmoi but I have to point out some of its downfalls vs. other dotfile managers, particularly if someone is looking to migrate to it.
- Go’s templating lib is incredibly unergonomic.
- Identifying file perms and visibility in by special naming convention is pretty gross. Also makes it more difficult to migrate to another solution.
- If you’re deleting files, you need to remember to do it through
chezmoi remove .... You can’t justrmthem from your dotfiles directory, because chezmoi does not sync state; it simply applies what’s currently in your repo. - Handling multiple systems through .chezmoiignore ends up being overly verbose and unintuitive vs. the approach used by other dotfile managers
Despite these gripes I still use it because deployment via a single binary is convenient, and there’s enough control through the generated config file + system info to handle multiple kinds of deployments sort-of-sensibly (see point 4 above).
I adore chezmoi
it’s so useful! I used to have some terrible setup going with branches for different OSes in my dotfiles, and chezmoi really simplified the whole thing
Indeed, I use my dotfiles across several machines, architectures, and distributions and it’s fantastic
Like to see so many fellow nix(os)ers here, I think the amount/ratio of nixers here is quite a bit higher than previously on reddit.
🫡
i take a Phoenix approach with my dotfiles.
Once a decade when my computer crashes and burns, from the ashes emerges a blank slate of dotfiles that is purged of all unnecessary hacks that have accumulated. With a tear and a hopeful outlook, I rush to set the settings I am actually dependent on.
I really need to take more interest in backing up my dotfiles 😭
I’m surprised it’s not already mentioned in these comments: https://yadm.io/
I’m all in on nix with home-manager these days. Really seems like an ideal framework for my dotfiles and of all the systems I’ve tried over the years this is the one I’m happiest with.
Hell of a learning curve, though.
Yep it’s like maintaining a codebase that’s getting increasingly better. It’s a rabbit-hole and a timesink (kind of because you’re trying to get the best out of it, and thus configure likely more) but I think it’s worth it. It gets better overtime as well
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Are you me? I do the exact same thing… only I also made a Makefile to do all the stow commands for me.
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Or maybe you’re me, because that’s what I do. Git + Stow + Makefile.
Tried all the fancy ideas, never stuck with it. I just use git to track changes now and move on with my life. There are like four functions I carry around with me, then whatever path additions and init scripts I pile up. It’s so light it doesn’t really matter when I move to a new machine
They’re in git
I’ve done symlinks into a separate directory before, but by far my favorite method is to just let
~be a git repo. It’s maximally simple, no other tooling needed besidesgit.There are a few key steps to making this work well:
echo '*' > ~/.gitignore: This waygit statusisn’t full of untracked files. I can stillgit add -fwhat I actually want to track.git branch -m dots: For clarity in my shell prompt.[ -d "$HOME/.local/$(hostname)/bin" ] && PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.local/$(hostname)/binand similar if there’s config I want to apply only to certain hosts.
Pretty happy with nixos these days, after the initial (crazy) learning curve. But I really like the creative simplicity of this idea
StoleForked this idea from Drew Devault.I’m looking at NixOS now for my server, and while I understand the host config, I’m curious whether I could integrate this into my config in some way.
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I still put them in gists, with no real tooling. I pull them in selectively when I get a new machine.
I used bare git repo before, then switch to GNU Stow + Nix home-manager.
