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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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Help me understand the workflow for cloning dotfiles after a fresh install without hosting dotfiles in the cloud (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I've been reading up on the concept of dotfile management, and I've come across tools such as GNU Stow, chezmoi, and yadm, but before I select a tool, I'd like to understand the workflow a little better.

I understand if the dotfiles are in some cloud provider such as GitHub, then after a fresh install one can do git clone etc, but let's say one's dotfiles are not stored in the cloud, then what's the workflow for getting those dotfiles onto the freshly installed OS? Do people do git clone from another machine on their local network, manually copy the dotfiles folder from the source, use an app like LocalSend, or something else?

EDIT: Clarifying that this is for a home environment, where I have two or three different laptops in service at any given time. One is my main daily driver and doesn't change much. The other two are kinda my sandboxes and I'm often distro hopping on them. This question is mostly for distro hopping on my sandboxes, which is like once or twice a month. Thanks!

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[–] chrash0@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

i host my dotfiles on GitHub, but any cloud provider or self-hosted git instance will do. otherwise, rsync, scp, or a good old fashioned thumb drive

[–] amju_wolf@pawb.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

You know you can just use git directly, right? That's kinda its whole point, that it's a self-contained topl for source distribution.

You can laterally just git pull from any machine through SSH...

[–] yo_scottie_oh@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Yeah, so far I'm leaning toward setting up a USB thumb drive that I always keep up to date so that I can plug it in when I do a fresh install.

In your case, are you more often pulling from GitHub to update existing setups as your configs change over time or are you usually pulling your dotfiles onto a new setup?

[–] chrash0@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

normally it’s for syncing across machines, but it is convenient for setting up new machines. i use chezmoi and Nix and some other tools to keep things in sync