Dotfiles
What Are Dotfiles?
Dotfiles are files where programs can store user's personal
configurations and customizations. Their name derives from the fact
that they start with the '.' character which makes them invisible to a
typical "ls", keeping them out of sight when you aren't interested.
Every program can have its own dotfile(s) and there is no standard for
how a program author has to structure their program's dotfile- in fact
programs are so different that a common style wouldn't make sense.
Unfortunately, this means that you have to learn how to configure each
program separately; luckily editing dotfiles is usually easy and
infrequently necessary. It is a useful skill to be able to modify
several common dotfiles which control the look-and-feel of your account.
What this guide focuses on is how to control the aesthetics (so to
speak) of your account. The main files that you will be playing (and
"playing" is the perfect word) are .fvwmrc, .Xdefaults, and .xinitrc.
Three more useful dotfiles you will learn about in this guide are
.anyone, .alias, and .plan.
Dotfiles are commented to help you figure out what things mean. Read
the comments.
.plan
The information in your .plan is listed when somebody fingers you. Many
people put information about themselves in their .plan, such as phone
numbers where they can be reached, their address, their url, etc. Some
people even put their favorite quotation in their .plan. Or even what
they are planning to do! See Andrea's .plan
.alias
The .alias file allows you to alias frequently used commands to shorter
commands. For example, if I want to alias zwrite to 'z' I would add to
my .alias file: alias z 'zwrite'
.anyone
Your .anyone file consists of a list of people that you often look to
see if they are logged in. Your friends, for example, or the
professor you work for. The program jtrack, or xjtrack if you want it
to start up its own window, will list the people in this file who are
logged in and have been idle less than an hour.
.Xdefaults
The .Xdefaults file contains information about default colors,
geometries and fonts for different programs. Many programs, such as
emacs, have sample .Xdefaults so you can learn about some more of the
defaults you can set. For the colors available to you, use xcolorsel.
You can either use the name of the color, or the 8-bit representation of
the color. For fonts, use xfontsel. To reload your .Xdefaults after
you have changed them without logging out, type in a shell:
xrdb -merge .Xdefaults
.xinitrc
The .xinitrc starts up a lot of programs and applications on start up,
for example, xterms, emacs, a clock, a mail manager, etc. A good place
to look is in /cs/bin/ for other programs you can use. One thing you
may want to add to .xinitrc, for example may be xjtrack. The syntax for
this is:
xjtrack -- -bg <background color> -fg <foreground
color> -geometry <geometry&rt; &
Make sure you do not forget your '&anp;'. This is important to run the
program in the background so you can start up the next program. A
geometry is the pixel location of the program. When you move things
around on your desktop, the geometry it is at appears in a tiny
rectange. An example, +2+2, would put something pretty much in the top
left hand corner.
(link is to the man page - localhost only)
The .fvwmrc file is a window manager. There are a number of options to
use as window managers. This is the default for accounts at Brown.
Some of things it does is set the title bar colors, and the colors of
various other windows. It allows you map your mouse buttons to things,
such as what Popup menus come up when you click your mouse in the root
window, and what window operations are done with various buttons. You
can also map keys on your keyboard. Your .xinitrc starts up your window
manager, so if you use a different one, you must change this in your
.xinitrc. In your right mouse button menu is an option to restart your
.fvwmrc when you make changes.
Experiment!
Experimenting is the best way to learn how dotfiles work and what you
can do with them. It can be addictive, trying different things and
colors. But be careful. If you are not sure what something does,
don't change it! Ask first. Colors and fonts and geometries are
safe to change. You can also try different programs by typing them in a
shell. Remember to use & so you can run more than one program.
Have fun!
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