Adding your .vim ~/.vimrc to github (aka dot files)

Question

I have seen a few people that have git repos with their dot files. I'm wondering if they just

cd ~/
git init
git add .vimrc
// etc

? And then that's how they keep it up to date? Or do they probably make copies and sync them?

What strategy do you guys recommend or use? Mostly don't wanna commit and push my entire ~/

Thanks

Answer 1

Making a git repository of your home is probably a bad idea (you would be spending more time creating your .gitignore file than on doing what you really want to do).

I suggest using a separate git directory for your dotfiles (eg. ~/git/dotfiles) and them making symlinks to your home (eg. ln -s ~/git/dotfiles/.vim ~/.vim, etc.).

If you can't be bothered creating symlinks manually each time you want to install your dotfiles somewhere, you can use a script like the following one: https://github.com/gibfahn/dot/blob/master/link.

Answer 2

I have my ~/.vim directory under version control and my "real" vimrc (the one with all my settings) inside that directory, at ~/.vim/vimrc:

~/
---- .vim/
---- ---- (plugins and stuff)
---- ---- vimrc
---- .vimrc

My regular ~/.vimrc has only one line:

runtime vimrc

No need to create symlinks or whatever.

This is how I would push my config on a new machine where Git has already been installed:

$ cd
$ git clone git@github.com:romainl/dotvim.git .vim
$ echo "runtime vimrc" > .vimrc

What follows is the whole creation process. I assume that you have created an account and a repo named "vimconfig" on Github and that you already have a lovingly crafted ~/.vimrc and a well organized ~/.vim/.

$ cd
$ mv .vimrc .vim/vimrc
$ echo "runtime vimrc" > .vimrc
$ cd .vim
$ git init
$ echo "This is my Vim config." > README
$ git add *
$ git commit -m "My Vim config is versioned."
$ git remote add origin https://github.com/username/vimconfig.git
$ git push origin master

At that point, you should have the same content on Github and in your local repository.

You manage that repository normally and push your commits when you are ready. Simple.

Note that the whole Github thing is only useful if you need/want to sync your config on multiple machines or, somehow need/want to share it with others. If you don't, there's no real point using GitHub at all.

(edit)

Vim 7.4 introduced a new, very useful, scheme: it looks for the usual ~/.vimrc and also for ~/.vim/vimrc so that's even less work for you:

$ cd .vim
$ git init
$ echo "This is my Vim config." > README
$ git add *
$ git commit -m "My Vim config is versioned."
$ git remote add origin https://github.com/username/vimconfig.git
$ git push origin master

Of course, the strategy I suggested initially is still valid if you have to deal with mixed Vim versions: Vim knows what to do and won't crap out in an endless loop.

Answer 3

I already have a "bundle" folder where I put all my plugins to load via Pathogen. So I made that folder my git folder(with the plugins as submodules) and put my vimrc there.

In the official .vimrc I write:

let $MYVIMRC="<path_to_vimrc_in_bundle_folder>"
source $MYVIMRC
...
call pathogen#infect()

and I don't version it!

This allows me to share my configuration between my Linux machine at home and my Windows box at work. I can also put in the official .vimrc configurations specific to the machine, or ones I don't want to make available publicly(like the dbext profiles that contains logins and passwords...)

Answer 4

Here is a platform agnostic and shell agnostic solution with no dependancies other then the bourne compatible shell you have available(bash, zsh, ksh, etc). It works on mac, linux, & windows:

dotsys

It will automatically synchronize changes to your dotfiles with github and multiple machines, along with many other features.

Answer 5

Check out StreakyCobra's solution in Hacker News:

git init --bare $HOME/.myconf
alias config='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.myconf/ --work-tree=$HOME'
config config status.showUntrackedFiles no

where ~/.myconf is the location of the bare git repository. Then any files within $HOME can be versioned like so:

config status
config add .vimrc
config commit -m "Add vimrc"
config add .config/redshift.conf
config commit -m "Add redshift config"
config push

If you need further explanation, Nicola Paolucci provided a great explanation.