dotfiles (December 2024)

Modern dotfiles configuration that documents and sets up my optimal development setup for MacOS and Linux (with specific focus on immutable distros such as Fedora Atomic series and SteamOS).

Overview

The main rationale behind moving to a Nix-based approach:

• Increased efficiency: Integrated configuration management and application installation
• Dependency isolation: Less software version conflicts and pollution of global install.
• Easier customization: Popular tools are automatically set up close to our preferences.
• Development shells: No need to pollute global packages, setup tailored development "containers"

Nix will be used to automate the installation and configuration of command-line tools. UI-extensive applications such as terminal emulators, browsers, etc. will be installed via either Homebrew Casks (MacOS), Flatpak (Fedora et al), or Snaps (Ubuntu).

Prerequisites

MacOS

1. Set a hostname for the machine using System Settings and via the following command: sudo scutil --set HostName <HOSTNAME>
2. Enable FileVault and reboot the machine
3. Install Homebrew
4. For Nix installer, we recommend using the Determinate Systems Nix installer with default Nix flakes support and a MacOS updates survival mode. For instructions on using the official Nix installer, see Appendix A

Linux

1. Install Nerd Fonts -- at the minimum, JetBrainsMono Nerd Font
2. Install B612 Font and Questrial
3. Make sure Flatpak is installed and Flathub is added as a repository. Follow instructions here for setting up Flathub with Flatpak.
4. Install the following Flatpak packages either through UI or via Flatpak command line interface:
   • com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
   • org.mozilla.firefox
   • GhosTTY (pending Flakpak for now as per Jan 2025)
5. For platforms without make installed, run nix-shell -p gnumake to enter a Nix shell with gnumake installed.

Appendix A: Official Nix Installer

1. Install Nix: the package manager and restart the shell
2. Enable flakes support by creating ~/.config/nix/nix.conf with the following contents: experimental-features = nix-command flakes

mkdir -p ~/.config/nix
echo experimental-features = nix-command flakes > ~/.config/nix/nix.conf

Installation

1. Checkout dotfiles repository: git clone https://github.com/andermatt64/dotfiles
2. In a terminal, change the current directory into the repository root, dotfiles
3. Run make -- this should verify all the prerequisites are in place and run nix run path:$(pwd) -- switch --flake path:$(pwd).

Post Install

MacOS

Note: We do not add fish to /etc/shells nor set it as the default shell for the main user anymore. This is so that we have an emergency shell to quickly fall back on in the event that a MacOS update breaks Nix store.

1. Start a new shell and run make casks to install Homebrew Casks.
2. Consider manually installing Questrial font
3. In System Settings:
   1. Add Amethyst explicitly as a Login Item in System Settings
   2. Unselect Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use under Mission Control panel in Desktop & Dock
   3. Ensure Switch to Desktop <N> is enabled and mapped to Alt-<N> under Mission Control in Keyboard Shortcuts
   4. Set Delay until repeat to one notch to the left of Short in Keyboard
   5. Set Key repeat rate to the notch under Fast in Keyboard
   6. Set Natural scrolling to ON in Mouse
4. In the Shortcuts tab pane under Amethyst Settings, clear the following shortcuts:
   • Move focus to main window
   • Move focus to counter clockwise screen
   • Move focus to clockwise screen
   • Swap focused window to counter clockwise screen
   • Swap focused window to clockwise screen
   • Swap focused window with main window
   • Focus screen <N>
   • Throw focused window to screen <N>
   • Toggle focus follows mouse
   • Toggle global tiling
   • Select Tall layout
   • Select Wide layout
   • Select Column layout

Linux

1. The Flatpak package for the desired terminal emulator may require additional permissions in order to read configuration files. To fix, open Flatseal and make sure the terminal emulator has the ability to read from /nix/store and ~/.nix-profile.

Appendix

Helix Editor Configurations

This setup uses different language configurations from default Helix Editor. Below is a list of the different configurations and what language server (LSP) and formatters are required.

Language	LSP	Formatter
Python	basedpyright	ruff
HTML	Default	prettier
JSON	Default	prettier
CSS	Default	prettier
JavaScript	Default	prettier
TypeScript	Default	prettier
TSX	Default	prettier

Rust Toolchain Installation

Install and set the default toolchain to be stable:

rustup default stable

Install rust-analyzer:

rustup component add rust-analyzer

Updating Nix Packages

Update packages by running the following command:

make update

Nix Garbage Collection

Occasionally, Nix store grows quite large because of orphaned packages. Use

make gc

to clean up.

MacOS Update Recovery

In the event a MacOS update breaks Nix store, the following steps should alleviate most issues:

Make sure /etc/zshrc ends with the following stanza:

# Nix
if [ -e '/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh' ]; then
  . '/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/etc/profile.d/nix-daemon.sh'
fi
# End Nix

Make sure /etc/synthetic.conf contains the content: nix

Known Issues

• Single-user installation mode has not been tested and may not be supported. A different script may be required to run at startup for single-user mode.