My dotfiles

Works on *nix, optimized for macOS.

Managed using Stow, so you can pick and choose which programs to install.

---

Philosophy

Initially I tried entirely automating the entire install process, but quickly found it wasn't worth the maintenance. Starting from scratch happens so rarely for me that each time I was fiddling with the bootstrap scripts to work around a random issue (often due to a new version of macOS).

Instead, it's simpler to install stuff by hand, and manage only the configuration files (dotfiles) in this repo.

---

Install steps on a clean macOS machine

1. Make hidden files/folder visible in Finder:

   defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true; killall Finder
   

2. Clone this repo:

   git clone git@github.com:jeffwidman/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles
   

   If cloning to a server without a Github-connected SSH key use https instead:

   git clone https://github.com/jeffwidman/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles
   

3. Install desired binaries using your favorite package manager:

   • If on macOS, use Homebrew:

     1. Install Homebrew.

     2. Use Homebrew Bundle to install the stuff listed in the .Brewfile:

        brew bundle --file=~/.dotfiles/homebrew/.Brewfile
        

        After the .Brewfile is symlinked into ~/.Brewfile, just use:

        brew bundle --global
        

   • Make sure Stow gets installed, we'll use this later to symlink the dotfiles.

   • Ruby: Use rvm instead of Homebrew. Much easier to manage gemsets, ruby versions, etc.

   • Node: Use nvm instead of Homebrew for managing Node.

4. Switch the default shell to the zsh installed by Homebrew (it's a newer version than the macOS default):

   1. Append the path to Homebrew's installed zsh:

      sudo sh -c "echo $(brew --prefix)/bin/zsh >> /etc/shells"
      

   2. chsh -s $(brew --prefix)/bin/zsh
      

5. Install prezto:

   git clone --recursive git@github.com:sorin-ionescu/prezto.git "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zprezto"
   

   The default prezto instructions say to symlink the default config files. Don't do this; instead use Stow to symlink your own config files (instructions below).

   To update prezto:

   git pull && git submodule update --init --recursive
   

6. Now use stow to symlink whatever config files are relevant:

   1. cd ~/.dotfiles/
      

   2. $ stow FOLDER_NAME will symlink all the files inside of the folder into the parent directory (in this case, the user's home folder.)

   stow whatever is relevant:

   • bash
   • git
   • homebrew - stowable, brew bundle --global will use $HOME/.Brewfile
   • iterm2 - my .zshrc file is configured to look for the shell integration file.
   • pypi
   • ruby
   • ssh
   • tmux - #TODO
   • vim - for when Neovim isn't available
   • vimify - .inputrc and .editrc make vim commands work in many interactive shells, for example the mysql and postgres shells
   • zsh - includes prezto config files

   Stow thoughtfully raises an error if the symlink destination already exists. For example, installing zsh creates a default ~/.zshrc and ~/.zshlogin. Just delete these default files before stowing your customized versions.

   If using a different OS than macOS, some packages may store their config files at a different location. For example, the fonts folder. Just specify the full destination path for Stow.

   More info:

   • http://brandon.invergo.net/news/2012-05-26-using-gnu-stow-to-manage-your-dotfiles.html
   • http://taihen.org/managing-dotfiles-with-gnu-stow/
   • http://kianmeng.org/blog/2014/03/08/using-gnu-stow-to-manage-your-dotfiles/

7. Other config files that aren't stowable:

   • nvim - Neovim. No need to stow as it respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
   • python - not stowable, I basically use this as a cheat sheet to remind me of my favorite python packages.
   • VSCode IDE - don't backup its dotfiles, use its built-in settings sync instead.

8. Other apps I commonly install:

   • Visual Studio Code
     • Settings and extensions are saved via the built-in settings sync.
     • Need to manually install the shell command code.
   • iTerm2
   • Cyberduck
   • PGAdmin or Postico
   • MySQLWorkbench
   • Robomongo
   • SourceTree
   • Virtualbox
   • BetterTouchTool
   • Rectangle

9. zsh completion scripts:

   Symlink any completion scripts into /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/. The filename must begin with an _ or zsh will not read it. Prezto caches the output of compinit, to rebuild the cache do:

   # typically for me this is located in ~/.cache/prezto/zcompdump
   rm -rf "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/prezto/zcompdump" && compinit
   

   Note: Many homebrew formulae automatically handle installing the formula's completion scripts. For example, brew install the_silver_searcher(ag) will also install a completion script for ag in /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/.

   Docker completion scripts - I opened https://github.com/sorin-ionescu/prezto/issues/1459 to try to get this into prezto:

   ln -s /Applications/Docker.app/Contents/Resources/etc/docker.zsh-completion /opt/homebrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_docker
   ln -s /Applications/Docker.app/Contents/Resources/etc/docker-compose.zsh-completion /opt/homebrew/share/zsh/site-functions/_docker-compose
   

---

Misc Notes

List of possible macOS customizations: https://mths.be/macos

Favorite Colorschemes:

• monokai
• solarized
• railscasts

Favorite Fonts:

• Ubuntu Monospace including powerline fix
• Adobe Source Code (look for powerline fix)

---

TODO

• add https://github.com/skwp/dotfiles/blob/master/ctags/ctags to make ctags parse ruby and js better

• how to use ctags http://scholarslab.org/research-and-development/code-spelunking-with-ctags-and-vim/

• Improve my vimrc and nvimrc - vim plugins:

  • vim-markdown Markdown syntax highlighting for Vim
  • syntastic (pylint, pep8, pyflakes linters)
  • youcompleteme
  • tasklist
  • taglist (and ctags) (tagbar as alternative?)
  • nerdtree
  • powerline
  • minibuffexplorer
  • the_silver_searcher (vs ctrlp?)

• add powerline - used in vim, zsh, ipython, and tmux

---

License

Copyright 2015 Jeff Widman Licensed under the MIT License