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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What dotfiles manager do you use? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm looking for recommendations for a dotfile manager - there are so many out there I've got a bit of options paralysis!

I'd like a system that can backup all my dotfiles - with version management - and, if I nuked my home directory, could restore them all for me with a simple command.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions!

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

nuking your home directory

Imho, in that case, you should look int a more proper backup strategy to restore all your files, not just your configs.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks - yes I do have that, but I also wanted something specific to my dotfiles to make management and restoration a bit easier.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have a vorta backup, running on a regular basis for my home dir which has GBs of data.

Mounting and restoring files is literally a matter of seconds.

But if you want something that you can easily take with you, you can go with a symlink/git approach:

have a folder "configs"
move all your dotfiles thst have NO sensitive data like credentials into that folder
symlink them into their proper place
use GIT to track them and push them to a git repo

Once you need them somewhere else, it's just a git pull away... easy as that.

What I dislike about existing solutions, is they come with their own binaries, conventions, and stuff, but basically do almost the same... this is the "raw way" that will hold up on any system, and almost all of them have git.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Or at the very least partition ~ as btrfs/zfs and do regular snapshots. The downside is, of course, that a rollback won't just roll back the dotfiles. But I guess if the scenario is "nuking [the] home directory" then that's probably not an issue.