From 586030d9702a03121e57a4326124b248732342e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Tom Willemse Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2015 21:04:36 +0100 Subject: Add old posts --- rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post | 78 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 78 insertions(+) create mode 100644 rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post (limited to 'rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post') diff --git a/rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post b/rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3526a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/rcm-another-dotfile-manager.post @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +;;;;; +title: rcm: Another dotfile manager +tags: software, rc +date: 2014-07-03 17:53 +format: md +;;;;; + +A little while ago I saw a link pass by about +[rcm](http://robots.thoughtbot.com/rcm-for-rc-files-in-dotfiles-repos), +a RC file (or dotfile) manager. It seems a lot like using +[GNU Stow](https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/) for your dotfiles. + +The basic idea seems to be that you create links to all your dotfiles +and the actual files are all kept in a single directory structure, +presumably for easy sharing with, for example, git. + +## The good... + +It seems that rcm has a few interesting features. + +### Host-specific dotfiles + +It gives you an option to have host-specific dotfiles, which is very +handy when you're working on multiple (types of) system. My laptop +doesn't always have the same needs as my PC and my server(s) +definitely have different needs. + +## The bad... + +In the short time I've spent with it, I've also found a few things I +don't much like. + +### Everything in a single directory + +I'm not so sure about the choice to put everything in a single +directory structure, which top-level dotfiles in the top-level +directory. This links all the files together in a repository-idea +kind-of way. I can't have a zsh repository and an Emacs repository +without also having different rcm source directories. + +Actually, this isn't entirely true. I can still separate them, with +the use of [labels](#labels), but not in an ideal fashion. + +### Unfriendly to directories + +It doesn't seem to like linking directories, though it can. Linking +directories is essential for me as I can on occasion remove a file +from one of my configuration directories and I don't want to have to +keep track of dead links like that manually. If you do link a +directory, instead of it showing up in `lsrc` as a single entry, all +the files in the directory are shown separately. + + +### Labels + +The labels are a nice idea, but they aren't what I expected them to be +when I read the description. Like host-specific dotfiles, labeled +dotfiles are put in their own directory. This allows you to separate +the dotfiles from others. What I didn't like about this implementation +is that afterwards you always have to specify which label you want to +use, which seems to make it impossible to still setup your dotfiles in +a single command. + +## Conclusion + +I personally won't be using rcm to manage my dotfiles. The solution I +have right now with GNU Stow works better and is easier to setup, +although that too has its drawbacks. + +This is not a definitive description or review of the software, I have +spent only a small amount of time with it and these are the findings I +made when trying to set it up with a few config files. If you really +want to know about it you should try it, it has quite a bit of +documentation to get you going. + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf