Synopsis

My dotfile settings for Linux (Debian Sid/Ubuntu 22.10) and MacOS (13, Ventura).

LICENSE

MIT License.

Setup

Script setup

Suppose the root directory of the repository is $DOT_DIR. The general idea is to make symlinks for the dotfiles with the setup script: $DOT_DIR/install.py.

• For the files or directories starting with _, they will be symlinked to the corresponding dotfiles in $HOME directory. For example, $DOT_DIR/_profile will be symlinked to $HOME/.profile.
• The Linux or MacOS specific dotfiles are those that start with _ and reside in $DOT_DIR/Linux or $DOT_DIR/Darwin, respectively. For example, $HOME/.gdbinit is symlinked to $DOT_DIR/Linux/_gdbinit on a Linux machine but not on a MacOS.
• It is suggested to dryrun (w/o actually running) it beforehand with $DOT_DIR/install.py -n (more details with $DOT_DIR/install.py -h) to see the effects.
• Please close other applications (especially browsers like google-chrome, microsoft-edge, etc) during setup (especially on Linux), as the setup script will move the original $HOME/.config (to $DOT_DIR/.BAK/_BAK.config by default) before generating the symlink directory $HOME/.config.
• Restore your original dotfiles by running $DOT_DIR/install.py -r.

# typical flows for setup

# clone with git ssh
# this means that for FIRST TIME setup, `git` should be installed beforehand
git clone --recursive git@github.com:hongxuchen/dotfiles.git $DOT_DIR
# or with https
git clone --recursive https: https://github.com/hongxuchen/dotfiles.git

cd $DOT_DIR

# dryrun to see whether there are dangerous operations
./install.py -n

## close other applications for a smooth setup and install
./install.py

# see further uses of this setup script
./install.py -h

System relevant installations

Packages that can be installed via system package manager:

• Both:

cd misc/pkgs
cargo install $(cat cargo)
pip install -U -r requirements.txt 
# or install locally if you'd like to only affect yourself (and maybe have no permissions)
pip install --user -U -r requirements.txt 

• Linux: Most of them can be installed via apt:

sudo apt install $(cat Linux/debs)

Other desktop packages can be installed via flatpak; never use snap

• Add a Chinese source mirror of flathub if you are in China:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists sjtu  https://mirror.sjtu.edu.cn/flathub/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remotes

• Packages: telegram

• Darwin (with homebrew):

For Chinese users, it is suggested to use a source mirror for quick installation. I personally follow tuna source for both fresh installation and updates.

brew install --cask $(cat Darwin/casks) 
brew install --formula $(cat Darwin/formulas)

Misc installations

• Some of the configurations/binaries cannot be installed by the setup script, please update accordingly.

  • neovim -- I use the latest (nightly) version
  • rustup -- don't use debian/brew cargo/rustc, but always use the rustup one
  • microsoft-edge -- In China, Edge is better
  • Clash -- for the well-known reason in mainland China
    • Linux: Clash CLI
    • MacOS: ClashX
  • v2raya -- for the well-known reason in mainland China
  • leanprover -- I'd like to learn some assisted proving

• Despite that my configurations can be for general purpose, some "source mirrors", like $HOME/.pip/pip.conf, $HOME/.npmrc, are configured with Chinese sources, for better network downloading speed.

• Use Nerd Fonts for nice icon display.

  • Download into $HOME/.fonts and use fc-cache -fv to update it;
  • Test the UTF-8 support with misc/UTF-8-demo.txt;
  • Test the icons with neovim;
  • on Debian derivatives, make sure urxvt is from rxvt-unicode-256color;
  • xterm is not recommended as it has poor support for unicode characters.

Settings

Fundamentals

1. neovim($HOME/.config/nvim/) The setup for neovim is done by lazy.nvim. Just type nvim and plugins will be installed automatically. DO keep in mind to install nvim plugins via a good network that can access GitHub smoothly. My five cents for using neovim:
   • Use as fewer plugins as possible, unless the plugin brings significant efficiency;
   • Keep treesitter, LSP, Mason installed packages, as updated as possible;
   • Use the version="*" in lazy.nvim to always install the latest plugins;
   • Go to GitHub issue pages to find out the answers when there are errors.
   • Not using helix since I've customized to Vim keymaps; VSCode and Intellij are still used.

I have also aliased vim/vi to use nvim with a simple configuration, simple.lua, which does not require any installations of plugins.

1. zsh(derived from oh-my-zsh)

   • relevant files:
     • $HOME/.zshenv -- for all zsh uses
     • $HOME/.zprofile -- for zsh login shell use
     • $HOME/.zshrc -- for zsh interactive shell use
     • $HOME/.aliases -- sourced inside $HOME/.zshrc, for aliasing
     • $HOME/.omz/ -- sourced inside $HOME/.zshrc, for oh-my-zsh style zsh uses

2. ipython(especially for sh/nb profile)($HOME/.ipython/)

3. git($HOME/.gitconfig)

   • git-extras is awesome

4. tmux($HOME/.tmux.conf)

   • zellij is not used since I've been used to tmux
   • GNU screen is way too old

Linux Specific

They are not exactly Linux only, but I tend not to use them on MacOS. They lie in Linux/.

• gdb($HOME/.gdbinit, $HOME/.gdb)

  • gdb is superseded by lldb on newer MacOS.

• X11 settings

  • $HOME/.Xresources: for XTerm, URxvt, should run xrdb -load $HOME/.Xresources firstly
  • $HOME/.xscreensaver

• wget($HOME/.wgetrc)

MacOS Specific

The MacOS specific dotfiles lie in Darwin/ directory.

• slate($HOME/.slate)

TODOs

• add local/global machine-specific settings