In my ongoing quest to explore a variety of ways of managing config files, I believe I have found a way that is attractively simple. ...more

Configuration files that reside in your home directory are both precious and dynamic. Given this, storing them in a version control system like Git makes good sense. Due to concerns around complexity, security, and cleanliness, though, no one wants to manage all files in their home directory with version control. Let’s explore how to manage just the important configuration files, also known as “dotfiles”, by selectively committing only the desired files to version control. ...more

We can make life easier by using Git to store and version configuration files that reside in a system’s home directory (aka “dotfiles”). But how do we do so selectively and non-invasively, so that only the desired files are committed to version control? This article explores one such method: using a “bare” git repo to track the files. ...more

In this article, I offer an approach for managing dotfiles in a modular way. I find a modular approach important because only some config files are useful in all contexts, while others are unique to a specific environment. ...more

On occasion, one needs to know the default branch for a given Git repo. Below I have compiled methods that fit a variety of use cases, and cover specific platforms (Github and Gitlab) as well as methods that work universally regardless of remote platform. ...more

Collect them all! Install Winget, Chocolatey and Scoop. (I just put the “vs.” in there as clickbait.) They make installing and managing software on Windows so much easier. They are different tools, though, and I suggest that their usage depends on the scenario. ...more

The .gitignore file contains a list of filenames or patterns that should be excluded from version control. Thankfully, several resources exist to more easily guide the generation of such files. ...more