Overview

A set of opinionated configuration files for command line tools like vim, zsh, git etc.

It uses pragmatic approaches like zaw, rcm or SpaceVim to configure the command line environment as quickly as possible without fiddling too much with nitty gritty implementation details.

The installation is tested on macOS 12.1 and subject to change without prior notice. Use at your own risk :)

Installation

• Clone the dotfiles repo to your HOME folder:

git clone https://github.com/ctrabold/dotfiles.git $HOME/dotfiles

• Install Homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

• Install required tools:

brew bundle --no-lock --file $HOME/dotfiles/Brewfile

• Set zsh as your default login shell:

sudo chsh -s "$(command -v zsh)" "${USER}"

• Clone zaw repo to your HOME folder:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zaw.git $HOME/zaw

• Link the symlink configuration file:

ln -s $HOME/dotfiles/rcrc $HOME/.rcrc

• Verify the symlinks with this command: lsrc

This command lists all symlinks that are going to be created so you can review the setup before you apply the settings in the next step.

Once you're happy with the result go ahead and create the symlinks to each dotfile:

rcup -v

You can safely run this command multiple times to update the symlinks e.g. if you add more dotfiles to the dotfiles folder later.

• (optional): Install Oh-My-ZSH: https://ohmyz.sh/#install
• (optional): install Janus Vim Setup: https://github.com/carlhuda/janus#installation
• (optional): install additional apps:

brew bundle --no-lock --file $HOME/dotfiles/Brewfile.apps

• (optional): Create a dedicated SSH key for work:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]" -f ~/.ssh/work_key

• (optional): Use the work key on certain work directory by adjusting ~/gitconfig.local:

vi ~/gitconfig.local

[includeIf "gitdir:~/workspace/customer"]
   [user]
       email = "[email protected]"
   [core]
       sshCommand = "ssh -i ~/.ssh/work_key"

FAQ

What's in it?

git configuration and commit templates

• Ignores a global set of files through ~/.gitignore_global
• Sets a bunch of aliases in ~/.gitconfig
• Best practise commit message in ~/.gitmessage

Ruby configuration

• Never download documentation for Rubygems to save space

Handy shell aliases and functions

• ~/dotfiles/zsh/aliases.zsh
• ~/dotfiles/zsh/functions.zsh

tmux configuration:

• The tmux config file is a modified version of from the tmux book.

vim configuration:

• The vim config is based on SpaceVim.

How do I customize the setup?

1. Override the files directly (not recommended because it makes it harder to pull changes from upstream due to potential merge conflicts).
2. Create a folder named dotfiles-local and store your custom files there. These will overrule the files from the dotfiles folder.
3. Create 'local' dotfiles with a .local file extension:

• ~/.aliases.local
• ~/.gitconfig.local
• ~/.tmux.conf.local
• ~/.zshrc.local

These files are included by the respective files. Be aware that not all files support .local files.

Example

Say you want to add your own aliases to your shell environment.

Instead of adding them to the 'core' file zsh/aliases.zsh I recommend to create a file called ~/.aliases.local which might look like this:

alias todo='$EDITOR ~/.todo'

For git your ~/.gitconfig.local might look like this:

[alias]
    l = log --pretty=colored
[pretty]
    colored = format:%Cred%h%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)%an%Creset
[user]
    name = John Doe
    email = [email protected]

Your ~/.zshrc.local might look like this:

# recommended by brew doctor
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:$PATH"

You can also override the core files completely or add your own by storing them inside the dotfiles-local folder.

This instructs rcup to use your files upon the next rcup run (see usage instructions above).

FAQ

How do I remove the unessecary apps in the default dock?

To cleanup the dock I use the commandline tool dockutil:

brew install dockutil
dockutil --remove all

This will remove all the default apps in the dock. Now I can add apps that I find useful.

I personally store only a handful apps in the dock, because I use the search feature to open apps either with the built in Spotlight or 3rd party apps like Alfred.

How do I install apps on macOS?

This command installs the common tools I use on a regular basis:

brew bundle --no-lock --file=~/dotfiles/tag-darwin/homebrew/Brewfile

You can omit the --no-lock if the ENV variable HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_NO_LOCK is set.

How do I use a Node Package manager?

The git setup of NVM provides the most straightforward solution in my opinion.

It is described here: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#git-install

After that install the node version(s) you desire: nvm install 12

How do I setup the Java environment?

Use SDKMan and follow the installation step:

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash

Then head over to their wiki to read up on the installation steps for each Java tool: https://sdkman.io/usage

Credits

1. These files are heavily inspired by thoughtbot, inc. Thank you for your inspiring work! The initial versions were inspired by the awesome folks at peepcode.
2. tmux is awesome - The tmux book helped me getting used to it and it's fun to read. The tmuxinator gem makes tmux even more fun!
3. My zsh config is based on oh-my-zsh.