Dotfiles

Personal Linux development environment managed with Git and GNU Stow.

Requirements

• Git
• GNU Stow

Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git stow

Repository Structure

.
├── bash/
├── git/
├── nvim/
├── zellij/
└── ...

Each top-level directory is a Stow package. Files inside each package mirror their destination in $HOME.

Example:

nvim/
└── .config/
    └── nvim/
        └── init.lua

This becomes:

~/.config/nvim/init.lua

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/JiruGutema/dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles

Create symlinks with Stow:

stow bash git nvim zellij

Or stow all packages:

stow */

Adding new Packages

First move the configuration files to a new package directory. For example, to add a new package called .config/custom that lives under your home directory, do the following:

1. Move the configuration files to dotfiles/custom/.config/custom/

2. Then run the following command to create symlinks:

   stow custom

3. verify that the symlinks were created correctly:

   ls -l ~/.config/custom

4. Update your repository with the new package if you have set up a remote repository:

Adding new packages that exist in the home directory

If you already have a configuration file on your system and want to avoid moving it manually, you can use the --adopt flag. This tells Stow to automatically move the existing file into your dotfiles directory and create the symlink.

cd ~/dotfiles
stow --adopt <package_name>

Updating a Packages

Edit configuration files normally through their locations in $HOME:

nvim ~/.config/nvim/init.lua

Changes are stored in this repository because the files are symlinked.

Commit and push updates:

git add .
git commit -m "Update configuration"
git push

Removing a Package

Unstow a package:

stow -D nvim

Restow it:

stow nvim

Common Packages

• bash — Bash configuration and aliases
• git — Git configuration
• nvim — Neovim configuration
• zellij — Zellij terminal workspace configuration
• tmux — Tmux confifguration

Requirements for neovim

• Neovim ≥ 0.10
• Node.js ≥ 18 (required for Copilot and several LSP servers)
• Git
• A Nerd Font (recommended: FiraCode Nerd Font or JetBrainsMono Nerd Font)

Keybindings

Original Lazyvim keybindings are used for most operations.

• http://www.lazyvim.org/keymaps
• key bindingings can be found under config/keymaps.lua

Notes

• Stow manages symlinks only.
• Existing files may need to be moved or backed up before stowing.
• Package directories should mirror the target directory structure in $HOME.
• For tmux, make sure you have installed tpm (Tmux Plugin Manager)

Apps that are their configs are included in this dotfiles repository

1. Neovim
2. Fastfetch
3. Starship
4. Tmux
5. Zellij
6. Bash | Terminal 😜