# fedora-dots — personal dot-files

My user configuration, tracked with a **bare git repo** so files stay exactly
where they are — nothing is copied, moved, or symlinked.

Repo storage: `~/.cfg.git` (hidden) · Work tree: `$HOME` · Alias: `cfg`

```
laptop                                 Gitea                       VM / fresh install
~/.cfg.git ──cfg push──► fedora-dots ◄──cfg pull── ~/.cfg.git
     ▲                                                                    │
     └────────────── your real files (~/.config/…) ◄──cfg checkout────────┘
```

## Current contents

- `.config/niri/` — compositor config
- `.config/noctalia/` — shell config (colors, plugins, settings)

## The alias (required once per machine)

```bash
alias cfg='git --git-dir=$HOME/.cfg.git --work-tree=$HOME'
```

Put it in `~/.bashrc` (or your shell's equivalent) to make it permanent.

## New machine setup (two ways)

**Automatic** — the [fedora](https://git.ku-it.org/yuri/fedora) setup script
asks *"Clone personal dotfiles?"* (or use `--dotfiles=yes`). It does a bare
clone into `~/.cfg.git`, checks everything out into `$HOME`, and sets
`status.showUntrackedFiles no`. Nothing manual needed.

**Manual:**

```bash
git clone --bare gitea@git.ku-it.org:yuri/fedora-dots.git ~/.cfg.git   # --bare matters!
cfg config status.showUntrackedFiles no
cfg checkout
```

(`checkout` may need `-f` if stock files are in the way — that overwrites them
with the repo versions, which is the point on a fresh machine.)

## Daily workflow

| What | Where | Commands |
|---|---|---|
| **Changed a tracked file** | the machine you edited it on | `cfg add <path>` → `cfg commit -m "…"` → `cfg push` |
| **Sync latest onto another machine** | VM / other box | `cfg pull` |
| **See what changed / is unsynced** | anywhere | `cfg status` |
| **Take Gitea's version, discard local edits** | VM | `cfg checkout -f` (careful) |

### Adding a new folder (opt-in, one at a time)

```bash
cfg add ~/.config/alacritty        # any path under $HOME
cfg commit -m "alacritty"
cfg push
```

Nothing is tracked until you name it. `status.showUntrackedFiles no` keeps
`cfg status` quiet about everything else.

### Good next candidates

`~/.bashrc` · `~/.config/alacritty/` · `~/.config/fuzzel/` · `~/.gitconfig`
(**strip credentials first** — a secret pushed is a secret exposed, private
Gitea or not)

## Rules of the road

1. **Edit + push from the machine where you maintain it** (the laptop);
   `cfg pull` on consumers.
2. **Do NOT edit files through Gitea's web GUI** — that changes only the
   server copy; your next push silently overwrites it. Web is for reading.
3. **`cfg status` clean = everything synced.** Run it weekly; drift is the
   only real risk of this setup.
4. **Never track secrets**: tokens, passwords, `.netrc`, history exports.
   Keep those out of git entirely.

## Why bare + alias (instead of a normal repo or symlinks)

- A normal clone would need its files *inside* the repo folder — but dot-files
  must live in `$HOME`. The bare repo decouples storage from location.
- No symlinks means no tooling surprises and no broken links; files are real
  files in their real places.
- It's plain git — no stow/chezmoi/yadm dependency to install on every machine.