Table of Contents

• Inspirations
• Screenshots
• Specifications
• Wallpapers
• Tour of my setup
• Configured programs
  • bspwm
  • sxhkd
  • polybar
  • Rofi
  • Zsh
  • Xorg
  • picom
  • Neovim
  • Ranger
  • Alacritty
  • Dunst
  • pacman
  • Pywal
• Additional programs used
  • System administration
  • Desktop user experience
  • General purpose programs
  • Device drivers and servers
  • Multimedia-related tools
  • Music production
  • Design
  • Fonts
  • Documents
  • Mathematical tools
  • Software development
  • Browser extensions

My dotfiles for my Linux-based system setup. The structure of this repo is designed to be managed with GNU Stow, a symlinks farm manager.

I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time in creating this setup so if you’re brave (or suicidal) enough to take a look at my stuff (that may or may not be an escaped entry from the SCP Foundation), go ahead.

Caution

Don’t blindly apply these dotfiles unless you know what you’re doing. Review the code first, change the setting accordingly, and apply it.

Inspirations

• https://github.com/addy-dclxvi/almighty-dotfiles/

• https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/voidrice

• https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn/ (pretty much the little details)

• Specifically for the tabbed terminals idea and the linked dotfiles repo) (not yet implemented, still cleaning up my stuff)

• Just saving these for an awesome future, hehehe.

Screenshots

My setup was made by the FOSS gang.

Figure 1. bspwm setup with no windows

Figure 2. bspwm with the terminals

Figure 3. rofi and VS Code setup

Figure 4. vim and zathura (and LaTeX) setup

Figure 5. A dropdown terminal (because why not)

Specifications

Here are the main specifications of my machine currently running this (as of 2019-08-09):

• Operating system: Arch Linux

• Display server: X Window System using Xorg

• Window manager: bspwm

• Terminal emulator: Alacritty

• Shell: Zsh

• Terminal emulator font: Iosevka

• GTK theme: Arc theme (Arc Darker variant)

Wallpapers

Here’s a list of the wallpapers I’ve used throughout my ricing journey. I’ve also tried to get the creators to show appreciation for their work.

• alien-moon.jpg

  • Creator: rmRadev

• forest-bright.jpg

  • Creator: Mikael Gustafsson

• hotline-miami-alt-cover.png

  • Creator: Mbdsgns

• long-walk-home.jpg

  • Creator: Beau Lamb

• nebula.jpg

  • Creator: datGryphon

• the-core.jpg

  • Creator: Beau Lamb

• rocket-launch.jpg

• sand.jpg

Tour of my setup

There are a few things to know on this setup.

• packages.txt is mainly for archiving my native package list from the official Arch Linux repos installed in my current Arch Linux setup.

• aur-packages.txt contains the installed packages from AUR along with their versions.

• locations.json is a data file that contains all of the packages listed in Configured programs along with their target path.

• manager.py is a little manager tailored for this setup.

• A makefile (named makefile) which makes use of GNU Make.

packages.txt and aur-packages.txt are simply a list of installed packages from the official Arch repo and AUR respectively. They are going to be committed at the start of every month (if it works that is).

manager.py is a tiny GNU Stow-inspired manager created for this setup. (Nonetheless, I tried to make it generic for other cases.) It takes a directory with a file named locations.json containing the packages with their target path. We can then execute commands with all of the packages and its target path. ^[1]

# Take the setup as the filesystem structure.
# See the JSON file (locations.json) to see what packages to be installed and where to install them.

# Running the program without any arguments for a test run.
# There should be a bunch of `echo` commands being ran for all of the listed packages.
./manager.py

# Create the directories of the target path and install them with GNU Stow.
# Bada-bing, bada-boom, you have installed your setup or something.
./manager.py --commands "mkdir -p {location}" "stow --restow {package} --target {location}"

Just execute the script with the --help flag for more information. ;p

Next, more custom scripts. They’re located in bin/ and ideally should be linked in $PATH. Currently, I have them linked in $HOME/bin.

The scripts are mostly used with hotkey bindings (e.g., sxhkd). Nonetheless, they could be executed in the shell (provided they are linked in $PATH).

Here’s a list of the top most useful scripts:

• Screenshot capture. Includes the option of delaying and region selection mode.

• An image-to-text script using OCR. The content are then copied into the clipboard. Built on top of the screenshot script. Useful for capturing links in images or videos.

• Screen recording using FFmpeg. An option of excluding and/or following the mouse cursor is included.

• Quick command prompts. The script is based from Luke Smith’s prompt script.

• Switching on/off programs. Useful for situations where only one instance of the program is running.

Aside from the scripts, there are also some details and files that are not committed to this setup for privacy and security reasons. A few examples of which is my cron setups where it is tasked with updating and committing the package lists to the Git repo, updating the packages, cleaning the cache, and so much more.

Configured programs

Here’s a list of the programs with details on the config found in this repo. Each of the listed directory is designed to be used/managed with GNU Stow at the indicated target path.

bspwm

A minimalist window manager. Only provides a window manager and nothing else.

• Config located at bspwm/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/bspwm/.

• Minimum version (from bspwm --version):

  • 0.9.7-10-g2ffd9c1

• Simply contains bspwmrc which is an executable setting up bspwm-related settings and and starting up some applications.

• This allows for a modular setup. For using keybindings, it uses sxhkd (Simple X Hotkey Daemon). For something similar to i3-bar, polybar serves as the replacement.

sxhkd

Stands for "Simple X Hotkey Daemon". It is a hotkey daemon detecting certain X events primarily from the keyboard and mouse.

It is also very useful since it enables modular setup. Can be used independent of the desktop environment (DE) or the window manager (WM).

• Config located at sxhkd/ folder.

• The usual target path is at $HOME/.config/sxhkd.

• Minimum version (from sxhkd --version):

  • 0.6.0-3-g7124055

• Contains a config file (sxhkdrc) for the keybindings. There are some keybindings specifically used for bspwm.

polybar

A tool for creating status bars.

This is the replacement bar from my previous i3-based setup.

• Config located at polybar/.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/polybar.

• Minimum version (from polybar --version):

  • polybar 3.4.1

  • Features: +alsa +curl +i3 +mpd +network(libnl) +pulseaudio +xkeyboard

• There is only the standalone config (might decide to make it modular) and the launch script which is copied from the related Arch Wiki entry.

For documentation, check out the already linked Arch Wiki entry and the official documentation from GitHub.

Rofi

The application switcher and launcher. Also serves as a replacement for dmenu.

• Config located at rofi/.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/rofi/.

• Minimum version (from rofi -version):

  • Version: 1.5.4

• Main config is config.rasi.

• Contains the config and my custom Rofi themes.

To see the documentation, check out the manual entry for rofi. For creating or editing Rofi themes, read the manual entry of rofi-theme. Also, view the related Arch Wiki entry.

Zsh

A Unix shell and an alternative to the Bash.

• Config found at zsh/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.

• Minimum version (from zsh --version):

  • zsh 5.7.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)

• Contains .zprofile and .zshrc. The primary file to look for is the .profile to set environment variables independent of the shell setups.

• Previously relied on oh-my-zsh. Eventually, the config became independent and can work without it.

For the documentation, check out the manual entry for zsh to gain an overview of the shell. The main manual explains some things such as the startup/shutdown files and compatibility with other shells. It also lays out the sections of the manual which you can check it out.

Since the manual has been split into multiple sections, it can be daunting to navigate. The most referred sections by far are zshmisc where it gives details on the miscellanea of zsh such as the prompt and special variables you might want to know. The other section is zshbuiltins where it explains built-in commands of zsh.

Xorg

A display server implementing X window system.

• Config found at xorg/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.

• Minimum version (from Xorg -version):

  • X.Org X Server 1.20.5

  • X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0

• The configuration is found at .Xresources containing the colors (0 to 15, foreground, and the background).

picom

A window compositor forked from compton that adds off-screen buffers and additional effects and animations to the window. Can be used for adding style to your setup.

This is formerly the Compton configuration.

• Config found at picom/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/picom.

• Minimum version (from picom --version):

  • v7.2

• The config is copied from /etc/xorg/picom.conf and edited a few parameters.

For documentation, check out the manual entry (i.e., man picom) and the related Arch Wiki entry. The default configuration (located at /etc/xdg/picom.conf assuming at Arch Linux) can be helpful as well as it is filled with comments.

Neovim

A modern version of Vim, a modal text editor. ^[2]

• Config located at nvim/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/nvim.

• Minimum version (from nvim --version):

  • NVIM v0.4.3

• Uses vim-plug as the plugin manager.

• Contains my plugin list and editor configurations in init.vim.

• There are also some UltiSnips snippets stored in own-snippets folder (since snippets is a reserved folder name).

• One of the largest snippet file is the snippets for LaTeX files. It is based on Gilles Castel's UltiSnips LaTeX snippets.

Ranger

A Vim-based file browser. Here’s their config documentation for it.

• Config located at ranger/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/ranger/.

• Minimum version (from ranger --version):

  • ranger version: ranger 1.9.2

  • Python version: 3.7.4 (default, Jul 16 2019, 07:12:58) [GCC 9.1.0]

• All of the config files are basically default config files except with a few changes.

• Contains keybinding in rc.conf. Additional keybindings include the O keybinding and their variants for opening my go-to programs such as Visual Studio Code.

• rifle.conf contains configuration for opening a list of programs.

Alacritty

Similar to Kitty , it’s a GPU-based terminal emulator. It’s documentation for the configuration can be viewed at the config file itself being filled with comments.

• Config located at alacritty/ directory.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/alacritty/.

• Minimum version (from alacritty --version):

  • alacritty 0.3.3

• Contains a single alacritty.yaml as the config file. Not much has changed except for the color scheme and the font being used.

Dunst

It’s a notification daemon used to display notifications sent by notifiers (programs that send messages/notifications).

• Config location is at dunst/.

• The usual target path for a user is at $HOME/.config/dunst/.

• Minimum version (from dunst --version):

  • Dunst - A customizable and lightweight notification-daemon 1.4.1 (2019-07-03)

• Simply contains a dunstrc configuring appearance of the notifications.

Look out for the related manual entry (i.e., man dunst) and the Arch Wiki entry.

pacman

The default package manager for Arch Linux.

• Config location is at pacman/

• The usual target path is at /etc/pacman.d.

• Minimum version (from pacman --version):

  • Pacman v5.1.3 - libalpm v11.0.3

• Contains the configuration file, a mirrorlist file, and some pacman hooks.

• For the mirrorlist, change it accordingly or generate another one. It is also monthly updated from a cron job.

• The dotfiles repo also contains two package lists (i.e., packages.txt and aur-packages.txt) in the root of the project folder.

• The setup also uses yay as the AUR helper tool.

Pywal

Pywal is a tool for generating color schemes from an image. It is mainly used to produce templates for different applications (e.g., Vim, Visual Studio, the tty).

• The config directory is at wal.

• The usual target path would be on ~/.local/share/wal. The target path is more lenient since it only contains data files. You have more choices here.

• Minimum version (from wal -v):

  • wal 3.3.0

• The folder only contains the best of the themes in JSON files. All of the data files are named after the filenames of the wallpapers. A few of them are listed in the Wallpapers section for the sources. The JSON files does need a little bit of tweaking especially with the wallpaper key. You could apply them with wal --theme /path/to/file.

• To easily create some more themes into JSON, I’ve created a small script named create-wal-theme located in my custom scripts location.

Additional programs used

As much as possible, I use free and open source software for all of my needs.

System administration

Tip	I recommend to start at this list especially if you’re starting with a bare minimum of a Linux installation.

• htop - A process viewer and manager.

• lxsession - A session manager and an authentication agent for Polkit; very useful if you’re usually using with a user-level account.

• Polkit - A program for bridging unprivileged processes to privileged access.

• systemd-boot - The UEFI boot manager.

• udisks - A manager for mounting filesystems.

• udiskie - An automounter for removable media.

Desktop user experience

• tmux - A terminal multiplexer useful for managing multiple sessions.

• tdrop - A modular dropdown creator.

• mantablockscreen - A lock screen.

• pywal - An automation tool for generating color schemes from images and applying them to your programs.

• neofetch - A program for getting information for your hardware and software setup.

General purpose programs

• feh - A minimal image viewer.

• Firefox - One of the major web browser second to Chrome.

• maim - A simple screenshot utility.

• Thunar - A file manager. A part of the Xfce desktop environment.

• Thunderbird - A email client.

• Weechat - An IRC client on the command line.

Device drivers and servers

• ALSA - A Linux sound driver.

• GNOME NetworkManager

• NVIDIA Driver - Since I have an NVIDIA-based GPU (NVIDIA GeForce GT 630), I have to use that. I also have to use the legacy version.

Multimedia-related tools

• Audacious - An audio player with various listening options.

• ffmpeg - A multimedia codec including for MP4, FLV, and more. Also can be used as a recorder.

• ImageMagick - A software suite for graphics.

• OBS Studio - A facility for streaming and recording videos.

• Shotcut - A video editor built with the MLT Framework.

• VLC Media Player - A multimedia player.

Music production

• Cadence - A set of audio tools. Part of the KX Studio project.

• Carla - An audio plug-in host supporting various audio plug-in formats such as VST2/3, SF2, and SFZ. Part of the KX Studio project.

• LMMS - A digital audio workstation for beat production.

• Musescore - A music composition and notation software.

• SuperCollider - A platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition.

Design

• Blender - A top-notch 3D modelling program.

• FreeCAD - A general purpose 3D computer-aided design program.

• Inkscape - A vector illustration/editing program. Alternative to Adobe Illustrator.

• KiCad - An electronic design automation suite.

• Krita - A painting/illustration program.

Fonts

• Fantasque Sans Mono

• Fira Code - A programmer-oriented font that supports ligatures.

• Iosevka - A monospace text that features ligatures and provides a wide variety of symbols. It is currently my terminal font.

• Latin Modern Math - A serif font specifically for mathematical and scientific work. It is based from Computer Modern Math (the default typeface for LaTeX documents). It is also my go-to font for mathematical fonts.

• Nerd Fonts - A suite of font tools. Also offers 40+ patched fonts of the popular fonts such as Iosevka, Fira Code, and many others.

• Noto Fonts - A font family provided by Google. Features a wide support for a variety of languages and styles.

• Plex - The font family of IBM. Offers a wide variety of styles from the serif, sans, and monospace. ^[3]

• Source Serif Pro - A free and open source serif font by Frank Grießhammer for Adobe. Part of the Adobe’s Source Pro open source font family. It is also my go-to serif font for my documents (e.g., LaTeX documents).

• Source Sans Pro - Another one of the Adobe’s Source Pro open source font family. I use it when paired with Source Serif Pro. The go-to sans font for my go-to serif font.

• STIX - A mathematical font based from the Times New Roman font. This is my second math font of choice.

Documents

• Asciidoctor - A text formatting language suitable for creating books, documentations, and writings. Highlights a heavier feature set compared to Markdown.

• Hugo - A static site generator for creating websites.

• Jupyter - Similar to R Markdown. This is closely associated with the Anaconda distribution. Useful for a variety of document formats to be converted into a website especially with the (bare) support for Pandoc converter.

• LibreOffice - An office productivity suite and serves as a free alternative to Microsoft Office suite.

• LuaTeX - The TeX engine I primarily use for my LaTeX documents.

• Pandoc - A universal document converter that supports a wide variety of document formats. Primarily used for converting Markdown documents into Asciidoctor text.

• R Markdown - A text formatting language that comes with executing programs with live output in the notebook.

• TeX Live - A cross-platform LaTeX distribution for compiling LaTeX files.

Mathematical tools

• Anaconda - A mathematical environment distribution.

• Octave - A mathematical computational environment similar to Matlab.

• R - Similar to Octave.

Software development

• CMake - A cross-platform build system that takes care of build configurations.

• GCC - A set of compilers from GNU. I mainly use it for developing and compiling C and C++ languages.

• Git - My one and only version control system.

• Godot Engine - A game engine with its own interface.

• Make - A build automation system.

• Visual Studio Code - A text editor that comes with lightweight IDE features.

• The programming language runtime for Python, Ruby, Java, Rust, and Go.

Browser extensions

• Bitwarden - An open source password manager. Comes with a browser extension or a desktop version of the app.

• Internet Archive Web Extension (Chrome and Firefox version) - A browser extension for tracking down the saved versions of a page. Very useful extension for tracking old resources that has been moved or deleted.

• uBlock Origin - A security tool for blocking known trackers.

• OneTab extension - An extension to enable grouping of tabs into one tab. Convenient for preventing a lot of tabs opened at one time.

• Privacy Badger - A security tool for blocking trackers. Unlike the other blockers like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger learns with more usage.

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1. Obviously, you need Python installed for this. For future references, the version by the time first writing the script is at v3.8.1.

2. Migrated after I’ve seen Luke-senpai used it in his recent videos. Seriously though, I find nvim to be way better for configuration.

3. There is a plan to extend the fonts to include mathematical symbols but as of 2020-03-27, it’s not yet complete.