~/.Dotfiles

$HOME, sweet $HOME

My dotfiles for configuring Vim, ZSH, Tmux, Git, etc

Contents

• Introduction to Dotfiles
  • What are dotfiles?
  • XDG Directories
  • Containerized Userspace
  • Security
  • Dotfile Management Systems
  • So copy paste, right?
• My Dots
  • Setup
  • Directory Structure
  • Install Script
  • Configuring
  • Aliases
  • Packages
  • System Preferences
  • ZSH
  • Vim
  • Tmux
  • Git
  • Dependencies
  • Utilities

---

Intro

What are dotfiles?

One of the beautiful things about Linux, is how easily customizable everything is. Usually these custom configurations are stored in files that start with a dot (hence dotfiles!), and typically located in your users home ~, or better yet ~/.config (even this can be customized, for apps that respect the XDG Base Directory spec). Some examples of dotfiles that you're likely already familiar with include .gitconfig, .zshrc or .vimrc.

You will often find yourself tweaking your configs over time, so that your system perfectly matches your needs. It makes sense to back these files up, so that you don't need to set everything up from scratch each time you enter a new environment. Git is a near-perfect system for this, as it allows for easy roll-backs, branches and it's well supported with plenty of hosting options (like here on GitHub).

Once everything's setup, you'll be able to SSH into a fresh system or reinstall your OS, then just run your script and go from zero to feeling at right at home within a minute or two.

It's not hard to create your own dotfile repo, it's great fun and you'll learn a ton along the way!

---

XDG Directories

The location of most config files can be defined using the XDG base directory specification, which is honored by most apps. This lets you specify where config, log, cache and data files are stored, keeping your top-level home directory free from clutter. You can do this by setting environmental variables, usually within the .zshenv file.

Variable	Location
XDG_CONFIG_HOME	~/.config
XDG_DATA_HOME	~/.local/share
XDG_BIN_HOME	~/.local/bin
XDG_LIB_HOME	~/.local/lib
XDG_CACHE_HOME	~/.local/var/cache

---

Containerized Userspace

You can also containerize your dotfiles, meaning with a single command, you can spin up a fresh virtual environment on any system, and immediately feel right at home with all your packages and configurations.

This is awesome for a number of reasons: 1) Super minimal dependency installation on the host 2) Blazing fast, as you can pull your built image from a registry, instead of compiling everything locally 3) Cross-platform compatibility, whatever your host OS is, you can always have a familiar Linux system in the container 4) Security, you can control which host resources are accessible within each container

For this, I'm using an Alpine-based Docker container defined in the Dockerfile, to try it out, just run docker run lissy93/dotfiles.

Other options could include spinning up VMs with a predefined config, either using something like Vagrant or a NixOS-based config.

---

Security

Something that is important to keep in mind, is security. Often you may have some personal info included in some of your dotfiles. Before storing anything on the internet, double check there's no sensitive info, SSH keys, API keys or plaintext passwords. If you're using git, then any files you wouldn't want to be commited, can just be listed in your .gitignore. If any .gitignore'd files are imported by other files, be sure to check they exist, so you don't get errors when cloning onto a fresh system.

Another solution, is to encrypt sensitive info. A great tool for this is pass as it makes GPG-encrypting passwords very easy (this article outlines how), or you could also just use plain old GPG (as outlined in this article).

---

Dotfile Management Systems

In terms of managing and applying your dotfiles, you can make things simple, or complex as you like.

The two most common approaches are be either symlinking, or using git bare repo, but you could also do things manually by writing a simple script.

Option 1 - Symlinking

Symlinks let you maintain all your dotfiles in a working directory, and then link them to the appropriate places on disk, sort of like shortcuts.

For example, if your dotfiles are in ~/Documents/dotfiles, you could create a zshrc file there, and link it with:

ln -s ~/Documents/dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc ~/.zshrc

This would obviously get cumbersome very quickly if you had a lot of files, so you would really want to automate this process. You could either create your own script to do this, or use a tool specifically designed for this.

I personally use Dotbot, as it doesn't have any dependencies - just include it as a sub-module, define a list of links in a simple YAML file, and hit go. GNU Stow is also a popular choice, and it's usage is explained well in this article by Alex Pearce. There's many other tools which do a similar thing, like Homesick, Rcm, dotdrop or mackup.

Option 2 - Git Bare Repo

Bare repositories let you add files from anywhere on your system, maintaining the original directory structure, and without the need for symlinks (learn more). Just initiialize or clone using the --bare flag, then add a global alias to manage files with git.

# Initialise a new repo, or clone an existing one with the --bare flag
git init --bare $HOME/dotfiles

# Next create an alias that sets the directory to your dotfile (add to .zshrc/ .bashrc)
alias dotfiles='$(where git) --git-dir=$HOME/dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME'

# Hide untracked files
dotfiles config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no

Then, from anywhere in your system you can use your newly created alias to add, commit and push files to your repo using all the normal git commands, as well as pull them down onto another system.

dotfiles add ~/.config/my-file
dotfiles commit -m "A short message"
dotfiles push

Both Chezmoi and YADM are a dotfile management tools, which wrap bare git repo functionality, adding some additional QoL features.

To learn more, DistroTube made an excellent video about bare git repos, and Marcel Krčah has written a post outlining the benefits.

Dotfile Dependencies

In terms of managing dependencies, using either git submodules or git subtree will let you keep dependencies in your project, while also separate from your own code and easily updatable.

---

So copy paste, right?

Zach Holman wrote a great article titled Dotfiles Are Meant to Be Forked. I personally disagree with this, since your dotfiles are usually highly personalized, so what's right for one developer, likely won't be what someone else is looking for. They're also typically something you build up over time, and although some repos may provide a great starting point, it's really important to know what everything does, and how it works.

By all means feel free to take what you want from mine. I've taken care to ensure that each file is standalone, and well documented so that certain files can just be dropped into any system. But I cannot stress enough the importance of reading through files to ensure it's actually what you want.

If you're looking for some more example dotfile repos to get you started, I can highly recommend taking a look at: @holman/dotfiles, @nickjj/dotfiles, @caarlos0/dotfiles, @cowboy/dotfiles, @drduh/config.

There's even more to check out at webpro/awesome-dotfiles, dotfiles.github.io and r/unixporn.

---

My Dotfiles

Setup

Warning

Prior to running the setup script, read through everything and confirm it's what you want.

Let's Go!

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/dotfiles/master/lets-go.sh)

This will execute the quick setup script (in lets-go.sh), which just clones the repo (if not yet present), then executes the install.sh script. You can re-run this at anytime to update the dotfiles. You can also optionally pass in some variables to change the install location (DOTFILES_DIR) and source repo (DOTFILES_REPO) to use your fork.

The install script does several things, it takes care of checking dependencies are met, updating dotfiles and symlinks, configuring CLI (Vim, Tmux, ZSH, etc), and will prompt the user to install listed packages, update the OS and apply any system preferences. The script is idempotent, so it can be run multiple times without changing the result, beyond the initial application.

Alternatively, you can clone the repo yourself, cd into it, allow execution of install.sh then run it to install or update.

Example

git clone --recursive git@github.com:Lissy93/dotfiles.git ~/.dotfiles
chmod +x ~/.dotfiles/install.sh
~/.dotfiles/install.sh

You'll probably want to fork the repo, then clone your fork instead, so update the above commands with the path to your repo, and optionally change the clone location on your disk.

Once the repo is cloned, you can modify whatever files you like before running the install script. The Directory Structure section provides an overview of where each file is located. Then see the Configuring section for setting file paths and symlink locations.

---

Directory Structure

~
└── .
    ├── bash/             # Bash (shell) config
    ├── tmux/             # Tmux (multiplexer) config
    ├── vim/              # Vim (text editor) config
    ├── zsh/              # ZSH (shell) config
    └── scripts/installs/         # Scripts for software installation
      ├── Brewfile        # Package installs for MacOS via Homebrew
      ├── arch-pacman.sh  # Package installs for Arch via Pacman
      └── flatpak.sh      # Package installs for Linux desktops via Flatpak
    ├── .github/          # Meta files for GitHub repo
    ├── lets-go.sh        # One-line remote installation entry point
    ├── install.sh        # All-in-one install and setup script
    └── symlinks.yml      # List of symlink locations

---

Install Script

The setup script (install.sh) will do the following:

• Setup
  • Print welcome message, and a summary of proposed changes, and prompt user to continue
  • Ensure that core dependencies are met (git, zsh, vim)
  • Set variables by reading any passed parameters, or fallback to sensible defaults (see .zshenv)
• Dotfiles
  • If dotfiles not yet present, will clone from git, otherwise pulls latest changes
  • Setup / update symlinks each file to it's correct location on disk
• System Config
  • Checks default shell, if not yet set, will prompt to set to zsh
  • Installs Vim plugins via Plug
  • Installs Tmux plugins via TPM
  • Installs ZSH plugins via Antigen
  • Prompts to apply system preferences (for compatible OS / DE)
  • On MacOS arranges apps into folders within the Launchpad view
  • On MacOS prompts to set essential privacy + security settings
  • On MacOS prompts to set system preferences and app settings
• App Installations
  • On MacOS if Homebrew is not yet installed, will prompt to install it
  • On MacOS will prompt to install user apps listed in Brewfile, via Homebrew
  • On Linux will prompt to install listed CLI apps via native package manager (pacman or apt)
  • On Linux desktop systems, will prompt to istall desktop apps via Flatpak
  • Checks OS is up-to-date, prompts to install updates if available
• Finishing up
  • Outputs time taken and a summary of changes applied
  • Re-sources ZSH and refreshes current session
  • Prints a pretty Tux ASCII picture
  • Exits

The install script can accept several flags and environmental variables to configure installation:

• Flags
  • --help - Prints help menu / shows info, without making any changes
  • --auto-yes - Doesn't prompt for any user input, always assumes Yes (use with care!)
  • --no-clear - Doesn't clear the screen before starting (useful if being run by another app)
• Env Vars
  • REPO_NAME - The repository name to pull, e.g. Lissy93/Dotfiles
  • DOTFILES_DIR - The directory to clone source dotfiles into

---

Configuring

The locations for all symlinks are defined in symlinks.yaml. These are managed using Dotbot, and will be applied whenever you run the install.sh script. The symlinks set locations based on XDG paths, all of which are defined in .zshenv.

The bootstrap configurations are idempotent (and so the installer can be run multiple times without causing any problems).

---

Aliases

Into to Aliases

An alias is simply a command shortcut. These are very useful for shortening long or frequently used commands.

How to use Aliases

For example, if you often find yourself typing git add . you could add an alias like alias gaa='git add .', then just type gaa. You can also override existing commands, for example to always show hidden files with ls you could set alias ls='ls -a'.

Aliases should almost always be created at the user-level, and then sourced from your shell config file (usually .bashrc or .zshrc). System-wide aliases would be sourced from /etc/profile. Don't forget that for your changes to take effect, you'll need to restart your shell, or re-source the file containing your aliases, e.g. source ~/.zshrc.

You can view a list of defined aliases by running alias, or search for a specific alias with alias | grep 'search-term'. The unalias command is used for removing aliases.

My Aliases

All aliases in my dotfiles are categorised into files located in zsh/aliases/ which are imported in zsh/.zshrc.

The following section lists all (or most) the aliases by category:

Git Aliases

zsh/aliases/git.zsh

Alias	Description
g	git
gs	git status - List changed files
ga	git add - Add to the next commit
gaa	git add . - Add all changed files
grm	git rm - Remove
gc	git commit - Commit staged files, needs -m ""
gcm	git commit takes $1 as commit message
gps	git push - Push local commits to
gpl	git pull - Pull changes with
gf	git fetch - Download branch changes, without modifying files
grb	git rebase - Rebase the current HEAD into
grba	git rebase --abort - Cancel current rebase sesh
grbc	git rebase --continue - Continue onto next diff
gm	git merge - Merge into your current HEAD
gi	git init - Initiialize a new empty local repo
gcl	git clone - Downloads repo from
gch	git checkout - Switch the HEAD to
gb	git branch - Create a new from HEAD
gd	git diff - Show all changes to untracked files
gtree	git log --graph --oneline --decorate # Show branch tree
gl	git log
gt	git tag - Tag the current commit, 1 param
gtl	git tag -l - List all tags, optionally with pattern
gtlm	git tag -n - List all tags, with their messages
gtp	git push --tags - Publish tags
gr	git remote
grs	git remote show - Show current remote origin
grl	git remote -v - List all currently configured remotes
grr	git remote rm origin - Remove current origin
gra	git remote add - Add new remote origin
grurl	git remote set-url origin - Sets URL of existing origin
guc	git revert - Revert a
gu	git reset - Reset HEAD pointer to a , perserves changes
gua	git reset --hard HEAD - Resets all uncommited changes
gnewmsg	git commit --amend -m - Update of previous commit
gclean	git clean -df - Remove all untracked files
glfsi	git lfs install
glfst	git lfs track
glfsls	git lfs ls-files
glfsmi	git lfs migrate import --include=
gplfs	git lfs push origin "$(git_current_branch)" --all - Push LFS changes to current branch
gj	Find and cd into the root of your current project (based on where the .git directory
clone	Shorthand for clone, run clone user/repo, if user isn't specified will default to yourself
gsync	Sync fork against upstream repo
gfrb	Fetch, rebase and push updates to current branch. Optionally specify target, defaults to 'master'
gignore	Integrates with gitignore.io to auto-populate .gitignore file
gho	Opens the current repo + branch in GitHub
ghp	Opens pull request tab for the current GH repo

Flutter Aliases

zsh/aliases/flutter.zsh

Alias	Description
fl	flutter - Main fultter command
flattach	flutter attach - Attaches flutter to a running flutter application with enabled observatory
flb	flutter build - Build flutter application
flchnl	flutter channel - Switches flutter channel (requires input of desired channel)
flc	flutter clean - Cleans flutter project
fldvcs	flutter devices - List connected devices (if any)
fldoc	flutter doctor - Runs flutter doctor
flpub	flutter pub - Shorthand for flutter pub command
flget	flutter pub get - Installs dependencies
flr	flutter run - Runs flutter app
flrd	flutter run --debug - Runs flutter app in debug mode (default mode)
flrp	flutter run --profile - Runs flutter app in profile mode
flrr	flutter run --release - Runs flutter app in release mode
flupgrd	flutter upgrade - Upgrades flutter version depending on the current channel

Node.js Aliases

zsh/aliases/node-js.zsh

Yarn

Alias	Description
ys	yarn start
yt	yarn test
yb	yarn build
yl	yarn lint
yd	yarn dev
yp	yarn publish
yr	yarn run
ya	yarn add
ye	yarn remove
yi	yarn install
yg	yarn upgrade
yu	yarn update
yf	yarn info
yz	yarn audit
yc	yarn autoclean
yk	yarn check
yh	yarn help
yarn-nuke	Removes node_modules, yarn.lock, package-lock.json and does a full fresh reinstall of dependencies
yv	Prints out the current version of Node.js, Yarn, NPM, NVM and git

NPM

Alias	Description
npmi	npm install
npmu	npm uninstall
npmr	npm run
npms	npm start
npmt	npm test
npml	npm run lint
npmd	npm run dev
npmp	npm publish
npmo	Opens NPM docs, either for the current package, or a specific dependency passes as param

NVM

Alias	Description
nvmi	nvm install
nvmu	nvm use
nvml	nvm ls
nvmr	nvm run
nvme	nvm exec
nvmw	nvm which
nvmlr	nvm ls-remote
nvmlts	nvm install --lts && nvm use --lts
nvmlatest	nvm install node --latest-npm && nvm use node
nvmsetup	Runs the NVM installation script, and sets up the NVM environment

General Aliases

zsh/aliases/general.zsh

Single-Letter Frequently-Used Commands (only set if not already in use)

Alias	Description
a	alias`
c	clear
d	date
e	exit
f	find
g	grep
h	history
i	id
j	jobs
l	ls
m	man
p	pwd
s	sudo
t	touch
v	vim

File listing options

Alias	Description
la	ls -A - List all files/ includes hidden
ll	ls -lAFh - List all files, with full details
lm	ls -tA -1 - List files sorted by last modified
lb	ls -lhSA - List all files sorted by biggest
lr	ls -R - List files in sub-directories, recursivley
lf	ls -A | grep - Use grep to find files
ln	find . -type f | wc -l - Shows number of files
ld	ls -l | grep "^d" - List directories only
la	exa -aF --icons - List all files, including hidden (only if exa is installed)
ll	exa -laF --icons - Show files with all details (only if exa is installed)
lm	exa -lahr --color-scale --icons -s=modified - Sort by date modified, most revent first (only if exa is installed)
lb	exa -lahr --color-scale --icons -s=size - Sort by size largest first (only if exa is installed)
tree	f() { exa -aF --tree -L=${1:-2} --icons };f - List files as tree (only if exa is installed)
lz	List the contents of a specified compressed archive. Supported formats include zip, rar, tar, tar.gz and ace

Getting Around

Alias	Description
mkcd	Create new directory, and cd into it. Takes new directory name as param
mkcp	Copies a directory, and navigates into it
mkmv	Moves a directory, and navigates into it

Getting outa directories

Alias	Description
c~	Navigate to ~
c.	Go up 1 directory
c..	Go up 2 directories
c...	Go up 3 directories
c....	Go up 4 directories
c.....	Go up 5 directories
cg	Navigate to base of git project

Finding files and directories

Alias	Description
dud	du -d 1 -h - List sizes of files within directory
duf	du -sh * - List total size of current directory
ff	find . -type f -name - Find a file by name within current directory
fd	find . -type d -name - Find direcroy by name

Command line history

Alias	Description
h	history - Shows full history
h-search	fc -El 0 | grep - Searchses for a word in terminal history
top-history	history 0 | awk '{print $2}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -n -r | head - Most used

Head / tail shortcuts

Alias	Description
H	| head - Pipes output to head (the first part of a file)
T	| tail - Pipes output to tail (the last part of a file)
G	| grep - Pipes output to grep to search for some word
L	| less - Pipes output to less, useful for paging
M	| most - Pipes output to more, useful for paging
LL	2>&1 | less - Writes stderr to stdout and passes it to less
CA	2>&1 | cat -A - Writes stderr to stdout and passes it to cat
NE	2> /dev/null - Silences stderr
NUL	> /dev/null 2>&1 - Silences both stdout and stderr
P	2>&1| pygmentize -l pytb - Writes stderr to stdout, and passes to pygmentize

Find + manage aliases

Alias	Description
al	alias | less - List all aliases
as	alias | grep - Search aliases
ar	unalias - Remove given alias

System Monitoring

Alias	Description
meminfo	free -m -l -t - Show free and used memory
memhog	ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%mem --sort=-%mem | head - Processes consuming most mem
cpuhog	ps -eo pid,ppid,cmd,%cpu --sort=-%cpu | head - Processes consuming most cpu
cpuinfo	lscpu - Show CPU Info
distro	cat /etc/*-release - Show OS info

Utilities

Alias	Description
myip	curl icanhazip.com - Fetches and displays public IP
weather	curl wttr.in - Fetches and displays local weather
weather-short	curl "wttr.in?format=3"
cheat	curl cheat.sh/ - Gets manual for a Linux command
tinyurl	curl -s "http://tinyurl.com/api-create.php?url= - URL shortening
ports	netstat -tulanp - List currently used ports
crypto	cointop - Launch cointop (only registered if installed)
gto	gotop - Launch gotop (only registered if installed)

Random lolz

Alias	Description
cls	clear;ls - Clear and ls
plz	`fc -l -1
yolo	git add .; git commit -m "YOLO"; git push origin master - Why not..
when	date - Show date
whereami	pwd - Just show current path
dog	cat - I don't know why...
gtfo	exit - This just feels better than exit

---

Packages

The dotfile installation script can also, detect which system and environemnt you're running, and optionally prompt to install packages and applications.

Package lists are stored in scripts/installs/ directory, with separate files for different OSs. The install script will pick the appropriate file based on your distro.

You will be prompted before anything is installed. Be sure to remove / comment out anything you do not need before proceeding.

• Linux (desktop): flatpak.sh - Desktop apps can be installed on Linux systems via Flatpack
• Mac OS: .Brewfile - Mac apps installed via Homebrew
• Arch (and Arch-based systems, like Manjaro): arch-pacman.sh - Arch CLI apps installed via pacman
• Debian (and Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu): apt.sh - Debian CLI apps installed via apt
• Alpine: apk.sh - Alpine CLI apps installed via apk

The following section lists different apps that may be installed for each category:

Command Line

CLI Essentials

• git - Version controll
• neovim - Text editor
• ranger - Directory browser
• tmux - Term multiplexer

CLI Basics

• aria2 - Resuming download util (better wget)
• bat - Output highlighting (better cat)
• ctags - Indexing of file info + headers
• diff-so-fancy - Readable file compares (better diff)
• entr - Run command whenever file changes
• duf - Get info on mounted disks (better df)
• exa - Listing files with info (better ls)
• exiftool - Reading and writing exif metadata
• fdupes - Duplicate file finder
• fzf - Fuzzy file finder and filtering
• hyperfine - Benchmarking for arbitrary commands
• jq - JSON parser
• most - Multi-window scroll pager (better less)
• procs - Advanced process viewer (better ps)
• ripgrep - Searching within files (better grep)
• rsync - Fast, incremental file transfer
• scc - Count lines of code (better cloc)
• sd - RegEx find and replace (better sed)
• thefuck - Auto-correct miss-typed commands
• tldr - Community-maintained docs (better man)
• tree - Directory listings as tree
• trash-cli - Record + restore removed files
• watch - Run commands periorically
• xsel - Copy paste access to X clipboard
• zoxide - Easy navigation (better cd)

CLI Monitoring and Performance Apps

• bandwhich - Bandwidth utilization monitor
• ctop - Container metrics and monitoring
• bpytop - Resource monitoring (like htop)
• glances - Resource monitor + web and API
• gping - Interactive ping tool, with graph
• ncdu - Disk usage analyzer and monitor (better du)
• speedtest-cli - Command line speed test utility

CLI Productivity Apps

• browsh - CLI web browser
• buku - Bookmark manager
• cmus - Music browser / player
• khal - Calendar client
• mutt - Email client
• newsboat - RSS / ATOM news reader
• rclone - Manage cloud storage
• task - Todo + task management

CLI Dev Suits

• httpie - HTTP / API testing testing client
• lazydocker - Full Docker management app
• lazygit - Full Git managemtne app

CLI External Sercvices

• ngrok - Reverse proxy for sharing localhost
• tmate - Share a terminal session via internet
• asciinema - Recording + sharing terminal sessions
• navi - Browse, search, read cheat sheets

CLI Fun

• cowsay - Have an ASCII cow say your message
• figlet - Output text as big ASCII art text
• lolcat - Make console output raibow colored
• neofetch - Show system data and ditstro info

Software Development

Development Apps

• Android Studio - IDE for Android development
• Boop - Test transformation tool (MacOS Only)
• iterm2 - Better terminal emulator (MacOS Only)
• Postman - HTTP API testing app
• Sourcetree - Git visual client (MacOS Only)
• Virtual Box - VM management console
• VS Code - Code editor

Development Langs, Compilers, Package Managers and SDKs

• docker - Containers
• gcc - GNU C++ compilers
• go - Compiler for Go Lang
• gradle - Build tool for Java
• lua - Lua interpreter
• luarocks - Package manager for Lua
• node - Node.js
• nvm - Switching node versions
• openjdk - Java development kit
• python - Python interpriter
• rust - Rust language
• android-sdk - Android software dev kit

Development Utils

• gh - Interact with GitHub PRs, issues, repos
• scrcpy - Display and control Andrdroid devices
• terminal-notifier - Trigger Mac notifications from terminal (MacOS Only)
• tig - Text-mode interface for git
• ttygif - Generate GIF from terminal commands + output

Network and Security Testing

• bettercap - Network, scanning and moniroting
• nmap - Port scanning
• wrk - HTTP benchmarking
• burp-suite - Web security testing
• metasploit - Pen testing framework
• owasp-zap - Web app security scanner
• wireshark - Network analyzer + packet capture

Security Utilities

• bcrypt - Encryption utility, using blowfish
• clamav - Open source virus scanning suite
• git-crypt - Transparent encryption for git repos
• lynis - Scan system for common security issues
• openssl - Cryptography and SSL/TLS Toolkit
• rkhunter - Search / detect potential root kits
• veracrypt - File and volume encryption

Desktop Applications

Creativity

• Audacity - Multi-track audio editor and recording
• Blender - 3D modelling, rendering and sculpting
• Cura - 3D Printing software, for slicing models
• DarkTable - Organize and bulk edit photos (similar to Lightroom)
• Dia - Versatile diagramming tool, useful for UML
• Gimp - Image and photo editing application
• HandBrake - For converting video from any format to a selection of modern codecs
• InkScape - Digital drawing/ illustration
• OBS Studio - Streaming and screencasting
• Shotcut - Video editor
• Synfig Studio - 2D animation

Media

• Calibre - E-Book reader
• Spotify - Propietary music streaming
• Transmission - Torrent client
• VLC - Media player
• Pandoc - Universal file converter
• Youtube-dl - YouTube video downloader

Personal Applications

• 1Password - Password manager (proprietary)
• Tresorit - Encrypted file backup (proprietary)
• Standard Notes - Encrypted synced notes
• Signal - Link to encrypted mobile messenger
• Ledger Live - Crypto hardware wallet manager
• ProtonMail-Bridge - Decrypt ProtonMail emails
• ProtonVPN - Client app for ProtonVPN

Browsers

• Firefox
• Chromium
• Tor

MacOS Apps

MacOS Mods and Imrovments

• alt-tab - Much better alt-tab window switcher
• anybar - Custom programatic menubar icons
• copyq - Clipboard manager (cross platform)
• espanso - Live text expander (cross-platform)
• finicky - Website-specific default browser
• hiddenbar - Hide / show annoying menubar icons
• iproute2mac - MacOS port of netstat and ifconfig
• lporg - Backup and restore launchpad layout
• m-cli - All in one MacOS management CLI app
• mjolnir - Util for loading Lua automations
• openinterminal - Finder button, opens directory in terminal
• popclip - Popup options for text on highlight
• raycast - Spotlight alternative
• shottr - Better screenshot utility
• skhd - Hotkey daemon for macOS
• stats - System resource usage in menubar
• yabai - Tiling window manager

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System Preferences

The installation script can also prompt you to confiture system settings and user preferences. This is useful for setting up a completely fresh system in just a few seconds.

MacOS

MacOS includes a built-in utility named defaults, which lets you configure all system and app preferences programatically through the command line. This is very powerful, as you can write a script that configures every aspect of your system enabling you to setup a brand new machine in seconds.

All settings are then updated in the .plist files stored in ~/Library/Preferences. This can also be used to configure preferences for any installed app on your system, where the application is specified by its domain identifier - you can view a full list of your configurable apps by running defaults domains.

In my dotfiles, the MacOS preferences will configure everything from system security to launchpad layout. The Mac settings are located in scripts/macos-setup/, and are split into three files:

• macos-security.sh - Sets essential security settings, disables telementry, disconnects unused ports, enforces signing, sets logout timeouts, and much more
• macos-preferences.sh - Configures all user preferences, including computer name, highlight color, finder options, spotlight settings, hardware preferences and more
• macos-apps.sh - Applies preferences to any installed desktop apps, such as Terminal, Time Machine, Photos, Spotify, and many others

Upon running each script, a summary of what will be changed will be shown, and you'll be prompted as to weather you'd like to continue. Each script also handles permissions, compatibility checking, and graceful fallbacks. Backup of original settings will be made, and a summary of all changes made will be logged as output when the script is complete.

If you choose to run any of these scripts, take care to read it through first, to ensure you understand what changes will be made, and optionally update or remove anything as you see fit.

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ZSH

// TODO

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Vim

The entry point for the Vim config is the vimrc, but the main editor settings are defined in vim/editor.vim

Vim Plugins

Vim plugins are managed using Plug defined in vim/plugins.vim. To install them from GitHub, run :PlugInstall (see options) from within Vim. They will also be installed or updated when you run the main dotfiles setup script (install.sh).

The following plugins are being used:

Layout & Navigation

• Airline: vim-airline/vim-airline - A very nice status line at the bottom of each window, displaying useful info
• Nerd-tree: preservim/nerdtree - Alter files in larger projects more easily, with a nice tree-view pain
• Matchup: andymass/vim-matchup - Better % naviagtion, to highlight and jump between open and closing blocks
• TagBar: preservim/tagbar - Provides an overview of the structure of a long file, shows tags ordered by scope
• Gutentags: ludovicchabant/vim-gutentags - Manages tag files
• Fzf: junegunn/fzf and junegunn/fzf.vim - Command-line fuzzy finder and corresponding vim bindings
• Deoplete.nvim: Shougo/deoplete.nvim - Extensible and asynchronous auto completion framework
• Smoothie: psliwka/vim-smoothie - Smooth scrolling, supporting ^D, ^U, ^F and ^B
• DevIcons: ryanoasis/vim-devicons - Adds file-type icons to Nerd-tree and other plugins

Operations

• Nerd-Commenter: preservim/nerdcommenter - For auto-commenting code blocks
• Ale: dense-analysis/ale - Checks syntax asynchronously, with lint support
• Surround: tpope/vim-surround - Easily surround selected text with brackets, quotes, tags etc
• IncSearch: haya14busa/incsearch.vim - Efficient incremental searching within files
• Vim-Visual-Multi: mg979/vim-visual-multi - Allows for inserting/ deleting in multiple places simultaneously
• Visual-Increment: triglav/vim-visual-increment - Create an increasing sequence of numbers/ letters with Ctrl + A/X
• Vim-Test: janko/vim-test - A wrapper for running tests on different granularities
• Syntastic: vim-syntastic/syntastic - Syntax checking that warns in the gutter when there's an issue

Git

• Git-Gutter: airblade/vim-gitgutter - Shows git diff markers in the gutter column
• Vim-fugitive: tpope/vim-fugitive - A git wrapper for git that lets you call a git command using :Git
• Committia: rhysd/committia.vim - Shows a diff, status and edit window for git commits
• Vim-Git: tpope/vim-git - Runtime files for git in vim, for git, gitcommit, gitconfig, gitrebase, and gitsendemail

File-Type Plugins

• Vim-JavaScript: pangloss/vim-javascript (JavaScript) - Syntax highlighting and improved indentation for JS files
• Yats: HerringtonDarkholme/yats.vim (TypeScript) - Syntax highlighting and snippets for TypeScript files
• Vim-jsx-pretty: MaxMEllon/vim-jsx-pretty (React) - Highlighting and indentation for React .tsx and .jsx files
• Vim-CSS-Color: ap/vim-css-color (CSS/ SASS) - Previews colors as text highlight, where hex codes are present
• Mustache and Handlebars: mustache/vim-mustache-handlebars (Mustache/ Handlebars) - Auto handles braces
• Vim-Go: fatih/vim-go (GoLang) - Go support, with syntax highlighting, quick execute, imports, formatting etc
• Indentpython: vim-scripts/indentpython.vim (Python) - Correct indentation for Python files
• Semshi: numirias/semshi (Python) - Advanced syntax highlighting for Python files
• SimpylFold: tmhedberg/SimpylFold (Python) - Code-folding for Python
• Vimtex: lervag/vimtex (LaTex) - Completion of citations, labels, commands and glossary entries
• Dockerfile.vim: ekalinin/Dockerfile.vim (Docker) - Syntax highlighting and snippets for Dockerfiles
• Vim-Json: elzr/vim-json (JSON) - Syntax highlighting, warnings, and quote concealing foe .json files
• Requirements: raimon49/requirements.txt.vim (Requirements) - Syntax highlighting for the requirements file format
• Vim-Markdown: gabrielelana/vim-markdown (Markdown) - Syntax highlighting, auto format, easy tables and more
• Zinit: zinit-zsh/zinit-vim-syntax (ZSH) - syntax definition for Zinit commands in any file of type zsh
• Nginx:chr4/nginx.vim (Nginx) - Integer matching, hichlight syntax and IPv4/ IPv6, mark insecure protocols and more

Themes

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Tmux

Fairly standard Tmux configuration, strongly based off Tmux-sensible. Configuration is defined in .tmux.conf

Tmux plugins are managed using TMP and defined in .tmux.conf. To install them from GitHub, run prefix + I from within Tmux, and they will be cloned int ~/.tmux/plugins/.

Plugins

• Tmux-sensible: tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible - General, sensible Tmux config
• Tmux-continuum: tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum - Continuously saves and environment with automatic restore
• Tmux-yank: tmux-plugins/tmux-yank - Allows access to system clipboard
• Tmux-prefix-highlight: tmux-plugins/tmux-prefix-highlight - Highlight Tmux prefix key when pressed
• Tmux-online-status: tmux-plugins/tmux-online-status - Displays network status
• Tmux-open: tmux-plugins/tmux-open - Bindings for quick opening selected path/ url
• Tmux-mem-cpu-load: thewtex/tmux-mem-cpu-load - Shows system resources

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Git

// TODO

Git aliases for ZSH are located in /zsh/aliases/git.zsh, and are documented under the Aliases section, above.

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Dependencies

It's strongly recomended to have the following packages installed on your system before proceeding:

• zsh - Interactive Shell
• nvim - Extensible Vim-based text editor
• tmux - Detachable terminal multiplexer
• ranger - CLI-based file manager with VI bindings
• git - Version control system

They can be easily installed/ updated with your package manger, e.g:

• Ubuntu Server: sudo apt install -y zsh neovim tmux ranger git
• Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S zsh neovim tmux ranger git
• Alpine: apk add zsh neovim tmux ranger git
• MacOS: brew install zsh neovim tmux ranger git

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Utilities

The dotfiles also contains several handy bash scripts to carry out useful tasks with slightly more ease.

Each of these scripts is standalone, without any dependencies, and can be executed directly to use. Alternatively, they can be sourced from within a .zshrc / .bashrc, for use anywhere via their alias.

For usage instructions about any of them, just append the --help flag.

• Transfer - Quickly transfer files or folders to the internet
• Web Search - Open a specific search engine with a given query
• QR Code - Generates a QR code for a given string, to transfer data to mobile device
• Weather - Shows current and forecasted weather for your location
• Color Map - Just outputs your terminal emulators supported color pallete
• Welcome - Used for first login, prints personalised greeting, system info, and other handy info
• Online - Checks if you are connected to the internet

Transfer

Quickly transfer a file, group of files or directory via the transfer.sh service.
To get started, run transfer <file(s) / folder>, for more info, run transfer --help

If multiple files are passed in, they will automatically be compressed into an archive. You can change the file transfer service, or use a self-hosted instance by setting the URL in FILE_TRANSFER_SERVICE The file can be either run directly, or sourced in your .zshrc and used via the transfer alias.

For info, run transfer --help
Source: utils/transfer.sh

Web Search

Quickly open web search results for a given query using a selected search engine. To get started, run web-search, or web-search --help for more info.

Usage:

All parameters are optional, to get started just run web-search or web-search <search provider (optional)> <query (optional)>, the ws alias can also be used. If a search engine isn't specified, you'll be prompted to select one from the list. Similarly, if a query hasn't been included you'll be asked for that too.

• web-search - Opens interactive menu, you'll be prompted to select a search engine from the list then enter your query
• web-search <search term> - Specify a search term, and you'll be prompted to select the search engine
  • For example, web-search Hello World!
• web-search <search engine> - Specify a search engine, and you'll be prompted for your search term
  • For example, web-search duckduckgo
• web-search <search engine> <search engine> - Specify both a search engine and query, and results will open immediately
  • For example, web-search wikipedia Matrix Defense

Supported Search Providers

The following search engines are supported by default:

• DuckDuckGo: ws duckduckgo (or wsddg)
• Wikipedia: ws wikipedia or (wswiki)
• GitHub: ws github (or wsgh)
• StackOverflow: ws stackoverflow (or wsso)
• Wolframalpha: ws wolframalpha (or wswa)
• Reddit: ws reddit (or wsrdt)
• Maps: ws maps (or wsmap)
• Google: ws google (or wsggl)
• Grep App: ws grepapp (or wsgra)

The alias ws will also resolve to web-search, if it's not already in use. You can either run the script directly, e.g.~/.config/utils/web-search.sh (don't forget to chmod +x the file first, to make it executable), or use the web-search / ws alias anywhere, once it has been source'd from your .zshrc.

For info, run web-search --help
Source: utils/web-search.sh

Try now!

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/dotfiles/master/utils/web-search.sh)

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