scanny/dotfiles

Using

1. Install zsh if required

   Ubuntu:

   $ sudo apt-get -y install zsh
   

   CentOS:

   $ sudo yum update && sudo yum -y install zsh
   

2. Change user shell to zsh:

   $ sudo chsh -s /usr/bin/zsh
   

2. Clone scanny/dotfiles from GitHub:

   $ git clone https://github.com/scanny/dotfiles ~/.dotfiles
   

3. Run install script to establish symlinks and bootstrap downloads and/or installs:

   $ ~/.dotfiles/install.sh
   

4. Run :BundleInstall from inside Vim to install plugins

5. Install virtualenvwrapper:

   $ sudo pip install virtualenvwrapper
   

Features

• [X] .dotfiles is git repo
• [X] .vim/bundles is in .gitignore, managed locally
• [X] Script for auto setup, linking of items, etc.
• [ ] ? Have a bin/ dir? Maybe link selected executables.

TODO

• [X] Push to replace current GitHub version
• [X] Work out how to do platform-specific customizations to .vimrc
• [X] Try out on Cygwin and make necessary platform-specific script changes

Reasons I care about

Keeping dotfiles under version control (git)

You never know when you might need something later. Plus, it's interesting to see how the collection of dotfiles evolves. A very useful benefit arises when you can't remember just how you added frombobulation way back when. With the git log, if you were a little careful about your commits, you can find exactly the changes that were required.

Maintaining an off-site backup

Hard disks fail. Even SSDs. I don't want to keep this under Dropbox because it might need to accommodate machine-local customizations.

Easy synchronization between machines

When I take my laptop out on the road, it would be nice if I could get all the latest updates without too much trouble. I never seem to have much time to fuss with it, always in a bit of a rush when heading out on the road.

Reasons I don't care about (yet)

Rapidly installing a new machine from scratch

I just don't do it enough to make it worth the trouble. Yet, anyway.