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authorTom Ryder <tom@sanctum.geek.nz>2020-05-03 22:37:45 +1200
committerTom Ryder <tom@sanctum.geek.nz>2020-05-03 22:37:45 +1200
commiteb9b7b65301e8ec9f628930a1738b0b03a6f0715 (patch)
tree5b336ce9a61bc397501db529eac182c3c94110e3
parentOrder sub-targets of `install` correctly (diff)
downloaddotfiles-eb9b7b65301e8ec9f628930a1738b0b03a6f0715.tar.gz
dotfiles-eb9b7b65301e8ec9f628930a1738b0b03a6f0715.zip
Many README.md improvements in phrasing or grammar
-rw-r--r--README.md149
1 files changed, 83 insertions, 66 deletions
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dab9534e..c2b7d3f3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ This is my personal repository of configuration files and scripts for `$HOME`,
including most of the settings that migrate well between machines.
This repository began as a simple way to share Vim and tmux configuration, but
-over time a lot of scripts and shell configuration have been added, making it
+a lot of scripts and shell configuration have been added over time, making it
into a personal suite of custom Unix tools.
Installation
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ Installation
For the default `all` target, you'll need a POSIX-fearing userland, including
`make(1)` and `m4(1)`.
-The installation `Makefile` will overwrite things standing in the way of its
+The installation `Makefile` overwrites things standing in the way of its
installed files without backing them up, so read the output of `make -n
-install` before running `make install` to make sure you aren't going to lose
+install` before running `make install` carefully, to make sure you aren't going to lose
anything unexpected. If you're still not sure, install it in a temporary
-directory so you can explore:
+directory first, so you can explore:
$ tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
$ make install HOME="$tmpdir"
@@ -37,17 +37,17 @@ The default `install` target will install these targets and all their
dependencies:
* `install-bin`
-* `install-bin-man`
* `install-curl`
* `install-ex`
* `install-git`
* `install-gnupg`
* `install-less`
* `install-login-shell`
+* `install-man`
* `install-readline`
* `install-vim`
-The `install-login-shell` looks at your `SHELL` environment variable and tries
+The `install-login-shell` target looks at your `SHELL` environment variable, and tries
to figure out which shell's configuration files to install, falling back on
`install-sh`.
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ The remaining files can be installed with the other `install-*` targets. Try
### Configuration
-To save a set of `make` targets useful for a specific user or host, you can
-save them in a newline-separated file `~/.local/share/dotfiles.conf`, and
+To keep a set of `make` targets useful for a specific user or host, you can
+list them in a newline-separated file `~/.local/share/dotfiles.conf`, and
install using that with the special `install-conf` target. This can include
variable settings, too:
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ Configuration is included for:
* Bourne-style POSIX shells, sharing a `.profile`, an `ENV` file, and some
helper functions:
- * [GNU Bash](https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/) (3.0 or higher)
+ * [GNU Bash](https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/) (v3.0 or newer)
* [Korn shell](http://www.kornshell.com/) (`ksh93`, `pdksh`, `mksh`)
* [Z shell](https://www.zsh.org/)
* [Abook](http://abook.sourceforge.net/) -- curses address book program
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ Configuration is included for:
client
* [Perl::Critic](http://perlcritic.com/) -- static source code analysis engine
for Perl
-* [Perl::Tidy](http://perltidy.sourceforge.net/) -- Perl source code
- reformatter
+* [Perl::Tidy](http://perltidy.sourceforge.net/) -- reformats Perl source code
* [Readline](https://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html) -- GNU
library for user input used by Bash, MySQL, and others
* [rxvt-unicode](http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/rxvt-unicode.html) -- Fork of
@@ -116,41 +115,46 @@ Configuration is included for:
* [X11](https://www.x.org/wiki/) -- Windowing system with network transparency
for Unix
-The configurations for shells, Mutt, tmux, and Vim are the most
-expansive, and most likely to be of interest. The i3 configuration is mostly
-changed to make window switching behave like Vim windows and tmux panes do, and
-there's a fair few resources defined for rxvt-unicode.
+The configurations for shells, Mutt, tmux, and Vim are the most likely to be of
+interest. The i3 configuration is limited mainly to changing window switching
+key bindings to match Vim's. There are a fair few resources defined for
+rxvt-unicode.
### Shell
-My `.profile` and other files in `sh` are written in POSIX shell script, so
-they should work in most `sh(1)` implementations. Individual scripts called by
-`.profile` are saved in `.profile.d` and iterated on login for ease of
-management. Most of these boil down to exporting variables appropriate to the
-system and the software it has available.
+On GNU/Linux, I use Bash; on \*BSD, I use some variant of Korn Shell,
+preferably `ksh93` if it's available.
-Configuration that should be sourced for all POSIX-fearing interactive shells
-is kept in `~/.shrc`, with subscripts read from `~/.shrc.d`. There's a shim in
-`~/.shinit` to act as `ENV`. I make an effort to target POSIX for my functions
-and scripts where I can so that the same files can be loaded for all shells.
+#### POSIX core
-On GNU/Linux I use Bash, on BSD I use some variant of Korn Shell, preferably
-`ksh93` if it's available.
+My `~/.profile` and other files in `sh` are written in POSIX shell script, so
+they *should* work in most POSIX-conforming `sh(1)` implementations. Please
+email me if you find a case where they don't!
-My Bash is written to work with [any version 3.0 or
+Further shell snippets to run on login are sourced from `~/.profile.d` by
+`~/.profile`. Most of these boil down to exporting variables appropriate to
+the system and the software it has available.
+
+Configuration that should be sourced for all conforming *interactive* shells is
+kept in `~/.shrc`, with subscripts read from `~/.shrc.d`. There's
+a `~/.shinit` shim to act as `ENV`.
+
+#### GNU Bash
+
+My Bash scripts are written to work with GNU Bash [v3.0 or
newer](https://wiki.bash-hackers.org/scripting/bashchanges). This is why I use
older syntax for certain things such as appending items to arrays:
array[${#array[@]}]=$item
-Compare this to the much nicer syntax available since 3.1-alpha1, which
-actually works for arrays with sparse indices, unlike the above syntax:
+This doesn't work for arrays with sparse indices; compare this to the much
+nicer syntax available since 3.1-alpha1, which does:
array+=("$item")
-Where I do use features that are only available in versions of Bash newer than
-3.0, such as newer `shopt` options or `PROMPT_DIRTRIM`, they are only run after
-testing `BASH_VERSINFO` appropriately.
+I do use some features that are only available in versions after v3.0, such as
+newer `shopt` options like `dirspell`, or variables like `PROMPT_DIRTRIM`.
+These are set only after testing `BASH_VERSINFO` appropriately.
#### Prompt
@@ -170,20 +174,22 @@ A terminal session with my prompt looks something like this:
The hostname is elided if not connected via SSH. The working directory with
tilde abbreviation for `$HOME` is always shown. The rest of the prompt expands
-based on context to include these elements in this order:
+based on context to include these elements, in this order:
-* Whether in a Git repository if applicable, and punctuation to show repository
- status including reference to upstreams at a glance. Subversion support can
- also be enabled (I need it at work), in which case a `git:` or `svn:` prefix
- is added appropriately.
+* Whether in a Git repository if applicable,
+
+* The current version control branch, tag, or commit/revision if applicable,
+ and punctuation to show repository status including reference to upstreams at
+ a glance. Subversion support can also be enabled, in which case a `git:` or
+ `svn:` prefix is added appropriately for disambiguation.
* The number of running background jobs, if non-zero.
* The exit status of the last command, if non-zero.
You can set `PROMPT_COLOR`, `PROMPT_PREFIX`, and `PROMPT_SUFFIX` too, which all
do about what you'd expect.
-If you start up Bash, Korn shell, or Z shell, and it detects that it's not your
-login shell, the prompt will display an appropriate prefix.
+If you start up GNU Bash, Korn shell, or Z shell, and that doesn't match your
+login shell, the prompt should display an appropriate prefix.
This is all managed within the `prompt` function. There's some mildly hacky
logic on `tput` codes included such that it should work correctly for most
@@ -248,7 +254,7 @@ non-POSIX features, as compatibility allows:
* `pushd()` adds a default destination of `$HOME` to the `pushd` builtin
(Bash).
* `vared()` allows interactively editing a variable with Readline, emulating a
- Zsh function I like by the same name (Bash).
+ Z shell function I like by the same name (Bash).
* `ver()` prints the current shell's version information (Bash, Korn Shell, Z
shell).
@@ -293,9 +299,9 @@ colored cyan.
### Mutt
-My mail is kept in individual Maildirs under `~/mail`, with the system mail
-spool in e.g. `/var/mail/tejr` being where most unfiltered mail is sent. I use
-[Getmail](http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/),
+My mail is kept in individual Maildir-format directories under `~/mail`, with
+the system mail spool in e.g. `/var/mail/tejr` being where most unfiltered mail
+is sent. I use [Getmail](http://pyropus.ca/software/getmail/),
[maildrop](https://www.courier-mta.org/maildrop/), and
[msmtp](https://marlam.de/msmtp/); the configurations for these are not
included here. I sign whenever I have some indication that the recipient might
@@ -321,10 +327,10 @@ Perl extensions. If you're missing functionality, try changing
### tmux
-These are just generally vi-friendly settings, not much out of the ordinary.
-Note that the configuration presently uses a hard-coded 256-color color scheme,
-and uses non-login shells, with an attempt to control the environment to stop
-shells thinking they have access to an X display.
+These are just generally vi-friendly settings, and there isn't much out of the
+ordinary. Note that the configuration presently uses a hard-coded 256-color
+color scheme, and uses non-login shells, with an attempt to control the
+environment to stop shells thinking they have access to an X display.
The shell scripts in `bin` include `tm(1df)`, a shortcut to make `attach` into
the default command if no arguments are given and sessions do already exist.
@@ -334,9 +340,19 @@ key combination to detach.
### Vim
The majority of the Vim configuration is just setting options, with a fair few
-mappings and remappings, both global and buffer-local. I try not to deviate
-too much from the Vim defaults behavior in terms of interactive behavior and
-keybindings. It's extensively commented.
+mappings and remappings, both global and buffer-local. It's extensively
+commented.
+
+#### XDG Basedirs
+
+The [XDG Base Directory
+Specification](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html)'s
+environment variables are checked on startup, and appropriate directories are
+added to the start and end of `'runtimepath'`. I use these separate
+directories for machine-local configuration, usually in `~/.config/vim`, while
+all the files that this suite installs land in `~/.vim`. Backups, swap files,
+persistent undo data, saved views, and the `viminfo` file all live under
+`XDG_CACHE_HOME`, normally `~/.cache/vim`.
#### Filetypes
@@ -348,21 +364,21 @@ filetypes in custom `ftdetect` rules.
#### Plugins
If the logic for doing something involves more than a few lines or any
-structures like functions, I like to implement it as a plugin in
-`~/.vim/plugin` and/or `~/.vim/autoload`, with documentation for each in
-`~/.vim/doc`.
+structures like functions that can be decoupled from `$MYVIMRC`, I like to
+implement it as a plugin in `~/.vim/plugin` and/or `~/.vim/autoload`, with
+documentation for each in `~/.vim/doc`.
They eventually get either discarded if I stop using them, or spun off into
-their own repositories if I don't, and added to this repository as submodules
-under `vim/bundle` instead. Some of them I upload to
+their own repositories and added to this repository as submodules under
+`vim/bundle` if I don't. Some of them I upload to
[vim.org](https://www.vim.org/account/profile.php?user_id=73687).
#### Filetype plugins
I apply some replacement or supplementary configuration specific to file types
I often edit in `~/.vim` and `~/.vim/after`, in the `ftplugin`, `indent`, and
-`syntax` subdirectories. Some of these filetype plugins or extensions will
-also eventually be removed to be separately distributed, and installed via
+`syntax` subdirectories. Some of these filetype plugins or extensions may also
+eventually be removed to be separately distributed, and installed via
submodules instead.
#### Compilers
@@ -376,17 +392,19 @@ it good?"--with separate local leader maps; for example, for `perl` filetypes,
#### No Neovim support
The configuration doesn't explicitly support Neovim, although most of it will
-probably work.
+probably work; you would probably just comment out the settings for a few of
+the removed options.
Scripts
-------
Where practical, I make short scripts into POSIX (but not Bourne) `sh(1)`,
`awk(1)`, or `sed(1)` scripts in `~/.local/bin`. I try to use shell functions
-only when I actually need to, which tends to be when I need to tinker with the
-namespace of the user's current shell.
+only when I actually need to, which tends to be when I need to change the state
+of the user's current shell, or to limit a change in behavior only to
+interactive shells.
-Installed by the `install-bin` target:
+These scripts are installed by the `install-bin` target:
* Three SSH-related scripts:
* `sls(1df)` prints hostnames read from a `ssh_config(5)` file. It uses
@@ -608,16 +626,15 @@ There's some silly stuff in `install-games`:
Manuals
-------
-The `install-bin` and `install-games` targets install manuals for each script
-they install. If you want to use the manuals, you may need to add
-`~/.local/share/man` to your `~/.manpath` or `/etc/manpath` configuration,
-depending on your system.
+The `install-bin` and `install-games` targets install manuals for each script.
+If you want to read the manuals, you may need to add `~/.local/share/man` to
+your `~/.manpath` or `/etc/manpath` configuration, depending on your system.
Testing
-------
You can check that both sets of shell scripts are syntactically correct with
-`make check-bash`, `make check-sh`, or `make check` for everything including
+`make check-bash` or `make check-sh`, or `make check` for everything including
the scripts in `bin` and `games`. There's no proper test suite for the actual
functionality (yet).