This past year I committed myself to learn ansible and fully script my full desktop setup as a series of ansible roles. This included not just package managemen

This past year I committed myself to learn ansible and fully script my full desktop setup as a series of ansible roles. This included not just package management but also things like gsettings gnome configuration, gnome extension installs, python virtualenv environments, email / chat client setup, etc. As it happens, a few months after I did that my hard drive failed on my Centos desktop. I was able to install a new drive, install base OS, and run my ansible role(s). Within ~45 mins I was back to my exact desktop with all local files restored from backup. Since then I've kept up any small changes by keeping my roles in sync with my setup. The result is a self-documenting setup. I started this as an excuse to learn ansible but I now realize I've relieved lots of mental burdens from myself. Its so nice to go thru life now confident that I can go from complete bare-metal to "my setup" over lunch.