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Seems much more complicated compared to: git checkout https://github.com/my/dotfiles.git cd dotfiles # this is little more than `find . -maxdepth 1

Seems much more complicated compared to: git checkout https://github.com/my/dotfiles.git cd dotfiles # this is little more than `find . -maxdepth 1 -exec ln -sf {} ~/ \;` ./install How are others here managing their dotfiles?

sametmax 8y ago
I use stow. But honestly, I don't think it's better than git.
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
  It's orthogonal, isn't it? You keep your dotfiles in a repo, then have stow "install" the checkout/clone thereof. EDIT: Also on stow - I tried it a couple times and it never seemed flexible enough. Can it handle things like keeping ~/.config/nvim and ~/.vim in the same stow directory? (And for that matter, can it link them together? I like having the same config for vim and neovim)
  - rudiv 8y ago
    I just have both directories in my dotfiles repo and have the vim one symlinked to the nvim one. Admittedly I haven't fully explored the capabilities of stow, there might be a better way.
  - th3ant 8y ago
    Re: your edit, Yeah it can! Set up a folder, say 'vim' for your example, and then inside of that folder you have a '.vim' file and a '.config/nvim' file. Then when you run `stow vim` from the parent of the original 'vim' folder it will symlink everything in there to ~. You can even have more folders that have a '.config/foobar' inside of them, and when you stow those it will all work itself out nicely! Edit: You can find examples of this in my dotfiles https://github.com/AnthonyWharton/dotfiles/ https://github.com/AnthonyWharton/dotfiles/ (I use stow if you didn't guess :P). For example look at the 'i3' folder and the 'polybar' folder, they both add things to '~/.config '
- joombaga 8y ago
  Are you using stow for some specific reason? Or just trying it out?
  - sametmax 8y ago
    Inertia
- rudiv 8y ago
  Same - git repository (I presume), and GNU stow. Stow is a good way to maintain symlinks, but I see the value of not having that additional dependency. The OP's method is nifty, I might try it out.
yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
I do almost exactly the same as you; my install.sh is a glorified wrapper around `ln -s`, but for each file, it verifies whether the file is already symlinked and if not renames the original to something like `.foo.bak.$(date -I)`. This is probably overkill, but it was especially nice when I was just starting to version control my dotfiles and still found unmanaged files sometimes that contained things worth saving.
- joombaga 8y ago
  Can you share?
  - yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
    Sure! https://gitlab.com/snippets/1844438 https://gitlab.com/snippets/1844438 EDIT: Some quirks to note, especially if you want to steal this script: 1. I use ~/.local/etc as my dotfile directory. 2. I support multiple shells but have all of them use ~/.profile rather than shell-specific files (most config overlaps, and there's a case stmt that deals with per-shell settings). 3. The vim/neovim bit at the bottom will fail silently if the directory already exists; thankfully this is rare, but it should be fixed some time.
- mikewhy 8y ago
  I do the same! https://github.com/mikew/dotfiles/blob/master/install.sh#L26-L29 https://github.com/mikew/dotfiles/blob/master/install.sh#L26... Although yours is more sound, I'm just moving files to `*.old`.
- jakeogh 8y ago
  heh. me too. https://github.com/jakeogh/symlinktree/blob/master/symlinktree/symlinktree.py https://github.com/jakeogh/symlinktree/blob/master/symlinktr...
lscotte 8y ago
I use a combination of stow and git via a script I wrote that I call stash - https://github.com/scotte/stash https://github.com/scotte/stash - it's very basic and simple, but has served me well.

sametmax 8y ago

I use stow. But honestly, I don't think it's better than git.

yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
It's orthogonal, isn't it? You keep your dotfiles in a repo, then have stow "install" the checkout/clone thereof. EDIT: Also on stow - I tried it a couple times and it never seemed flexible enough. Can it handle things like keeping ~/.config/nvim and ~/.vim in the same stow directory? (And for that matter, can it link them together? I like having the same config for vim and neovim)
- rudiv 8y ago
  I just have both directories in my dotfiles repo and have the vim one symlinked to the nvim one. Admittedly I haven't fully explored the capabilities of stow, there might be a better way.
- th3ant 8y ago
  Re: your edit, Yeah it can! Set up a folder, say 'vim' for your example, and then inside of that folder you have a '.vim' file and a '.config/nvim' file. Then when you run `stow vim` from the parent of the original 'vim' folder it will symlink everything in there to ~. You can even have more folders that have a '.config/foobar' inside of them, and when you stow those it will all work itself out nicely! Edit: You can find examples of this in my dotfiles https://github.com/AnthonyWharton/dotfiles/ https://github.com/AnthonyWharton/dotfiles/ (I use stow if you didn't guess :P). For example look at the 'i3' folder and the 'polybar' folder, they both add things to '~/.config '
joombaga 8y ago
Are you using stow for some specific reason? Or just trying it out?
- sametmax 8y ago
  Inertia
rudiv 8y ago
Same - git repository (I presume), and GNU stow. Stow is a good way to maintain symlinks, but I see the value of not having that additional dependency. The OP's method is nifty, I might try it out.

yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago

I do almost exactly the same as you; my install.sh is a glorified wrapper around `ln -s`, but for each file, it verifies whether the file is already symlinked and if not renames the original to something like `.foo.bak.$(date -I)`. This is probably overkill, but it was especially nice when I was just starting to version control my dotfiles and still found unmanaged files sometimes that contained things worth saving.

joombaga 8y ago
Can you share?
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
  Sure! https://gitlab.com/snippets/1844438 https://gitlab.com/snippets/1844438 EDIT: Some quirks to note, especially if you want to steal this script: 1. I use ~/.local/etc as my dotfile directory. 2. I support multiple shells but have all of them use ~/.profile rather than shell-specific files (most config overlaps, and there's a case stmt that deals with per-shell settings). 3. The vim/neovim bit at the bottom will fail silently if the directory already exists; thankfully this is rare, but it should be fixed some time.
mikewhy 8y ago
I do the same! https://github.com/mikew/dotfiles/blob/master/install.sh#L26-L29 https://github.com/mikew/dotfiles/blob/master/install.sh#L26... Although yours is more sound, I'm just moving files to `*.old`.
jakeogh 8y ago
heh. me too. https://github.com/jakeogh/symlinktree/blob/master/symlinktree/symlinktree.py https://github.com/jakeogh/symlinktree/blob/master/symlinktr...

lscotte 8y ago

I use a combination of stow and git via a script I wrote that I call stash - https://github.com/scotte/stash https://github.com/scotte/stash - it's very basic and simple, but has served me well.