Literate ~/dotfiles/…

This is my attempt at literate GNU/Linux configuration files. To achieve this, I am using org-mode and babel for emacs. I am also using stow to keep everything in a single, version controlled, directory.

Current Setup

I am currently using:

wm (main)	StumpWM
wm (alt)	qtile
shell	ZSH
editor	Emacs

How it works

All configuration is done in .org files containing code snippets. These code snippets can be copied to a specified path using babels tangle.

For example, if you wanted to create your StumpWM configuration file and store it in ~/dotfiles/stumpwm/.stumpwm.d/init.lisp, you would use:

#+BEGIN_SRC lisp :tangle ~/dotfiles/stumpwm/.stumpwm.d/init.lisp
  ;; Insert code snippet here...
#+END_SRC

You can edit the code in the SRC block by pressing <C-c '> This opens the snippet in a new buffer in the languages native mode. Press <C-c '> again to save the changes or <C-c k> to cancel the changes. I also have it configured to use evil’s :x to save the changes or :q to cancel the changes.

Once you are happy with the changes, press C-c C-v t to tangle all the snippets and create init.lisp inside of ~/dotfiles/stumpwm/.stumpwm.d/.

Stow

To organize my dotfiles, I am using this approach. The ~/dotfiles directory contains a subdirectory for each applications’ configuration files.

For example, the ~/dotfiles/stumpwm/.stumpwm.d/ directory holds all of the StumpWM configuration files. Once all the files are created, use:

stow stumpwm 

to create a symlink, ~/.stumpwm.d, pointing to ~/dotfiles/stumpwm/.stumpwm.d/

You only need run stow initially, or if any other new files are added. Once the symlink is created, you can open the file within the home directory and it will use the symlinked file within ~/dotfiles.