Minimal Dotfiles

A deliberately minimal dotfile configuration.

Philosophy

Over the years I have grown tired of tweaking config files for every component of my desktop. This repository contains only the essentials.

Start with a minimal Debian 13 (Trixie) install — SSH server and system essentials only, no desktop environment. Run bootstrap.sh followed by install.sh to get up and running. For additional tooling, see the scripts/ folder.

What's Inside

.
├── config/
│   ├── alacritty/     # Alacritty terminal configuration
│   ├── fish/          # Fish shell configuration
│   ├── gitu/          # Git TUI settings
│   ├── kanata/        # Keyboard remapping
│   ├── lf/            # Terminal file manager
│   ├── nvim/          # Neovim setup
│   └── tmux/          # Tmux configuration
├── scripts/
│   ├── setup_docker   # Docker install recipe
│   └── setup_golang   # Golang + go tools install recipe
├── bootstrap.sh       # Fresh system setup (run once, before install.sh)
└── install.sh         # Dotfile symlinks and package installation

Desktop Bootstrap

Start with a minimal Debian 13 (Trixie) install — SSH server and system essentials only, no desktop environment.

Then run the bootstrap script to set up DMS, Helium, and GTK theming:

./bootstrap.sh

Once complete, restore personal files from backup (SSH keys, documents, projects, fonts, wallpapers, local binaries/scripts), then continue with the steps below.

Software Installation

Clone this repository and run the install script:

Install Options

# Interactive mode (with confirmations)
./install.sh

# Only create symlinks
./install.sh -l

# Only install packages
./install.sh -i

What Gets Installed

The script installs essential development tools via apt:

• CLI Tools: wget, curl, fzf, fd-find, ripgrep, tree, btop, direnv, bat, jq, lf, unzip
• Development: build-essential, make, bear, valgrind
• Shell: fish
• Terminal: alacritty
• Multiplexer: tmux
• Other: ca-certificates, gnupg, libfuse2

Symlinks Created

• ~/.tmux.conf → ./config/tmux/.tmux.conf
• ~/.config/alacritty → ./config/alacritty
• ~/.config/fish → ./config/fish
• ~/.config/kanata → ./config/kanata
• ~/.config/nvim → ./config/nvim
• ~/.config/gitu → ./config/gitu
• ~/.config/lf → ./config/lf

Scripts

Self-contained recipes for tooling that goes beyond the core install. Each script can be run independently as needed:

./scripts/setup_docker
./scripts/setup_golang
./scripts/setup_kanata

These are not run automatically by install.sh — they are opt-in.

This setup prioritizes stability and simplicity over customization. DankMaterialShell with niri handles the heavy lifting for tiling and aesthetics.