Questions tagged [dot-files]
A dotfile is a file or directory whose name begins with a dot. These files are typically found in user home directories, contain configuration information and hidden from view on Unix systems.
147 questions
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2 answers
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Do dotfiles require the initial dot?
Is there a difference between a "dot file" and a "configuration file"? For example, I have torrc file in /opt/homebrew/etc/tor. Neither filename itself nor any of its parent ...
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1 vote
2 answers
161 views
How to make my configuration dotfiles also be loaded for sudo use?
Lets say I do some configuration in my $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (which is /home/user/.config). If I run micro text editor and it has custom keybindings and custom theme, doing sudo micro will load the default ...
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2 answers
900 views
Where to put my own shell scripts and configuration files? [duplicate]
Could anybody explain, in which directory (or directories) I should place my own shell scripts and configuation files on macOS? /usr/local/bin/? /usr/local/etc/? $HOME/bin/? $HOME/etc/? ... ? A best ...
- 1,397
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1 answer
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What is the provenance of .gtkrc-xfce?
I'm currently setting up a Linux Mint 21.3 Xfce Edition installation, and part of that is tidying up the dotfiles in the home directories. There aren't that many that can be moved in the base ...
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2 votes
1 answer
156 views
Were there ways to hide some files in old Unix?
According to Rob Pike, hiding files with a preceding dot was a mistake. So before this modification in ls behaviour (hiding files starting with a '.' by default) was made, could people hide files from ...
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On a fresh machine, which should come first the syncing of dotfiles or installation of their libraries?
This is a bit of a newbie question but I'm only starting out my journey with dotfiles! Suppose I have a fresh machine and I want to sync my existing dotfiles/settings from some repo. A dotfile may or ...
- 135
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1 answer
138 views
Get a list of all user's commands from a non-interactive shell
I am writing a script that would automatically suggest some new aliases/functions to be added to a user's shell config. Before doing that, however, I would like to make sure the aliases being ...
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254 views
KDE applications configuration - how do they do it?
I've been tackling a project more seriously lately, a project that probably every Linux dev goes through at some point - dotfiles management. KDE (and it's applications) has a history of resisting ...
- 21
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1 answer
141 views
Aliases working in subjective conditions on Mac
I'm currently working on a dotfiles configuration (which runs zsh) which I've been using on my mini home server and and Linux CLIs on my PC. I've also utilised it on my work Macbook which runs MacOS, ...
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1 answer
84 views
How do I copy directory structure as symlinks inside other directory
I am looking for an easy way to backup all my dotfiles in a git repository. Solution that I'm aiming for: have git as my source of truth for my dotfiles contents in my home directory backed up files ...
0 votes
1 answer
413 views
zsh custom completion file not sourced properly
I encountered a strange behaviour regarding ZSH completion for my custom script and need some ideas, what went wrong and how to solve it. I have written a little custom script myscript and also ...
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1 vote
1 answer
322 views
What is . and .. in Unix/Linux? [duplicate]
What is . and .. in Unix/Linux ? I’m making a confusion here: the .. (dots) means one dot for the current directory and one dot for the parent directory? That why cd .. goes back one above? From the ...
2 votes
1 answer
409 views
Dot file and an adjacent identically named file without dot?
Is it bad practice to have a dot file and an adjacent identically named file without dot? Background: We already create a $HOME/.ourapp directory where we store various configuration files, log files,...
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Workaround for applications which use file system dialog that does not enable to open masked folders (beginning with a dot)?
I want to migrate from keepass2 to keepassxc. I am under Debian 12 with XFCE. When I want to open my keypass store located at dot-folder ~/.keepass , the file system dialog of keepassxc does not ...
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1 answer
90 views
Efficiently Tracking and Updating configs (dotfiles) from Multiple GitHub Repositories
I'm tracking several GitHub repositories, from which I often fetch configuration files for tools like mpv and hyprland. Given that these repositories frequently receive updates, I'm seeking a more ...
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