I have created a public repository for my `.dotfiles`. For now, this repository mainly consists of:

• configuration for
  • zsh
  • git
  • ruby gem
• a Brewfile with packages I consider essential

I mainly use devices running macOS, so some of the topics here may be specific to that operating system. However, most of the config files are platform agnostic and can be used anywhere you would want to use them.

Using this Repository

I follow the approach described in Drew DeVault’s blog post “Managing my dotfiles as a git repository”.

cd ~
git init
git remote add origin https://github.com/MultifokalHirn/.dotfiles.git
git fetch --all

The next step will be to merge the repository contents with your current setup. Please be very careful here!

Attention! If you are not on a fresh system, make a backup before proceeding! Or at least go through the repo’s contents, and for all files that you probably do not want to get overwritten, rename them to <name>.bak or somesuch.

I recommend you first run the following, which will already work, if your home folder does not conflict with the repo

git checkout main  # 'main' is this repo's main branch 

If that did produce an error, you can force the checkout as per below.

Again, please make backups and make sure that you will not be able to overwrite anything that cannot be restored.

git checkout --force main

Basic Setup

iTerm2

I use iTerm2 as a replacement for Terminal, which comes shipped with macOS. Please refer to the iterm2 homepage to learn more about its features and how to install it.

Note: Whether you use iTerm2, Terminal, or some other terminal emulator has no effect on the rest described herein.

brew packages

brew is a package manager for macOS similar to apt-get and yum, meaing it can be used to install a wide range of stuff - anything from fundamental (CLI) tools like ssh or git to GUI apps like Handbrake or Firefox.

You can install brew like so:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

In Brewfile-MultifokalHirn I have collected a set of packages and applications that are essential to how I work and use my computer. I added a short explanation for each, so please have a look at the Brewfile to learn more.

You can install the packages contained within like so:

brew bundle --file=~/Brewfile-MultifokalHirn

zsh

I use zsh in combination with the config framework ohmyzsh (mostly out of habit, I have not looked at other alternatives to plain bash so far).

zsh will be installed if you used my Brewfile, otherwise you can install it like so:

brew install zsh  # consider setting it as you default shell

You can install ohmyzsh like so (please refer to the official documentation for more information):

`sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://install.ohmyz.sh/)"`

Configuring zsh

Please refer to my .zshrc to check out the configuration I use. For me, the config results in shell that extremely fun and quick to use, while also being aesthetically pleasing (at least to me).

Extending ohmyzsh

To install custom themes or plugins, you have to be in the respective directory in the folder assigned to $ZSH_CUSTOM (which is usually ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/).

Themes

cd $ZSH_CUSTOM/themes/

Theme	Command
spaceship-prompt	git clone https://github.com/spaceship-prompt/spaceship-prompt.git

Plugins

cd $ZSH_CUSTOM/plugins/

Plugin	Command
zsh-autosuggestions	git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions.git
fzf-tab	git clone https://github.com/Aloxaf/fzf-tab
fzf-tab-source	git clone https://github.com/Freed-Wu/fzf-tab-source
fast-syntax-highlighting	git clone https://github.com/zdharma-continuum/fast-syntax-highlighting
zsh-completions	git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-completions.git
zsh-nvm	git clone https://github.com/lukechilds/zsh-nvm.git
OhMyZsh-full-autoupdate	git clone https://github.com/Pilaton/OhMyZsh-full-autoupdate.git

git clone https://github.com/davidparsson/zsh-pyenv-lazy.git ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/pyenv-lazy
git clone https://github.com/ahmubashshir/zinsults.git  ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zinsults

Setups for specific languages

python

I always recommend to use pyenv when developing software using python. It allows you to install and switch between different versions of python and decouples your development environment from the system python which Apple will update from time to time, potentially breaking your development setup.

brew install pyenv
pyenv install 3.12.0 # example version
pyenv global 3.12.0

pipx

pipx is a tool to install and use packages ‘globally’. It installs pipx itself into a separate virtual environment from your default python interpreter, and makes sure that when you run pipx command, it uses the pipx virtual environment.

python -V # check whether you are using the intended python version
pip install --upgrade pipx
pipx ensurepath
pipx install ruff virtualenvwrapper bpython # example packages

ruby

macOS has a built-in version of ruby. However, I highly advise installing separate ruby versions and only using those in when developing. On a fresh system, you will see the following behavior:

which ruby
# /usr/bin/ruby
/usr/bin/ruby -v
# ruby 2.6.10p210 (2022-04-12 revision 67958) [universal.x86_64-darwin21]
/usr/bin/ruby -e 'puts Gem.user_dir'
# /Users/my_user/.gem/ruby/2.6.0

To install a ruby version can run the following:

TODO - rewrite using rbenv

brew install ruby

Your ruby version should - at least once you reload the shell - be the one installed by brew and behave similar to the following:

which ruby
# /usr/local/opt/ruby/bin/ruby
ruby -v
# ruby 3.2.2 (2023-03-30 revision e51014f9c0) [x86_64-darwin21]
ruby -e 'puts Gem.user_dir'
# /Users/my_user/.gem/ruby/3.2.0

rust

You can install rustup like so:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

sccache

sccache is a compiler cache. It speeds up compilation by caching previous compilations and detecting when the same compilation is being done again.

cargo install sccache

Misc

npm i -g safe-rm

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