Tech That!

Most first-time Linux users come from a world where every program has a settings dialog in which to configure the program; indeed some have never opened those dialogs at all. In Linux, however, many applications still use configuration files located in your home directory. These are often prefixed with a period (.bashrc, .xinit, etc), and referred to as dotfiles for this reason. The reason behind the dot-prefix is that in Linux, files with filenames starting with a period are hidden in most listings by default. Since you don’t want to see all your config files every time you try to find something in your home directory, it makes sense to make them hidden. (If you don’t believe me, open a command prompt and run “ls -la” to see all the dotfiles as well)

So, let’s have a the dotfiles you will most likely want to change. Note that these are primarily for command-line applications, but since you’re using Linux, you will more than likely come in contact with the command line sooner or later.

.bashrc

This file contains all the configuration options for your shell (the application that handles everything that happens in your terminal window).

Below is my current .bashrc file:

# Check for an interactive session
[ -z "$PS1" ] && return

# Color aliases
alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'

# Common aliases
alias more='less'

# Convenience aliases
alias svim='sudo vim'
alias srm='sudo rm'

# Prompt
PS1='[\u@\h \W]\$ '

# Tab completion for sudo
# Disabled because it also autocompletes filenames...
#complete -cf sudo

# Sets the editor to use
export EDITOR='vim'

# Add local bins to path
export PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin"

# Other aliases
# make
alias ,='make'
# git
alias .='git pull'
alias ..='git push'
# file handlers
alias o='xdg-open'
# update commands
alias yu='yaourt -Syu --aur'
alias pu='sudo powerpill -Syu'
alias yi='yaourt -S'
# online tools
alias t='tweet'

Note that you should change this to suit your preferences. If you don’t use git, then remove the git aliases or change them to something else you find useful!

.xinitrc

The .xinitrc file is a small, but important, file which controls what happens when you log in and start your X session (The “startx” command). If you’re running a graphical login manager such as GDM, KDM or SLiM, then these will execute startx for you, thus still invoking .xinitrc.
Since I’m running XFCE, my .xinitrc contains “exec startxfce4″.
The “ssh-agent” part runs the entire window manager under a single SSH agent daemon, allowing me to only enter the password for my private keys once in a single session.

exec ssh-agent startxfce4

.Xresources

The .Xresources file configures the visual aspects of all X applications (most notably xterm and xscreensaver).
Note that a lot of these settings will not change anything if you are using another terminal editor such as gnome-terminal or Konsole.
In my .Xresources file below (which is heavily inspired by the Arch Linux Wiki page on the subject), I define a “better” color theme, terminal settings such as font and how my xscreensaver should look. Feel free to experiment these and come up with the perfect settings for your tastes!

One important thing to note is that I am setting xterm to use the Inconsolata font – a very good monospaced terminal font. It is probably available for your Linux distro through the packaging system (Look for ttf-inconsolata)

! terminal colors ------------------------------------------------------------

! tangoesque scheme
*background: #111111
*foreground: #babdb6
! Black (not tango) + DarkGrey
*color0:  #000000
*color8:  #555753
! DarkRed + Red
*color1:  #ff6565
*color9:  #ff8d8d
! DarkGreen + Green
*color2:  #93d44f
*color10: #c8e7a8
! DarkYellow + Yellow
*color3:  #eab93d
*color11: #ffc123
! DarkBlue + Blue
*color4:  #204a87
*color12: #3465a4
! DarkMangenta + Mangenta
*color5:  #ce5c00
*color13: #f57900
!DarkCyan + Cyan (both not tango)
*color6:  #89b6e2
*color14: #46a4ff
! LightGrey + White
*color7:  #cccccc
*color15: #ffffff

! xterm ----------------------------------------------------------------------

xterm*geometry:           100x25
xterm*faceName:           inconsolata:pixelsize=15
!xterm*font:             -*-dina-medium-r-*-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xterm*dynamicColors:      true
xterm*utf8:               1
xterm*eightBitInput:      true
xterm*saveLines:          512
xterm*scrollTtyKeypress:  true
xterm*scrollTtyOutput:    false
xterm*jumpScroll:         true
xterm*multiScroll:        true
xterm*toolBar:            false

! xscreensaver ---------------------------------------------------------------
!font settings
xscreensaver.Dialog.headingFont:        -*-dina-bold-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.Dialog.bodyFont:           -*-dina-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.Dialog.labelFont:          -*-dina-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.Dialog.unameFont:          -*-dina-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.Dialog.buttonFont:         -*-dina-bold-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.Dialog.dateFont:           -*-dina-medium-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
xscreensaver.passwd.passwdFont:         -*-dina-bold-r-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
!general dialog box (affects main hostname, username, password text)
xscreensaver.Dialog.foreground:         #ffffff
xscreensaver.Dialog.background:         #111111
xscreensaver.Dialog.topShadowColor:     #111111
xscreensaver.Dialog.bottomShadowColor:  #111111
xscreensaver.Dialog.Button.foreground:  #666666
xscreensaver.Dialog.Button.background:  #ffffff
!username/password input box and date text colour
xscreensaver.Dialog.text.foreground:    #666666
xscreensaver.Dialog.text.background:    #ffffff
xscreensaver.Dialog.internalBorderWidth:24
xscreensaver.Dialog.borderWidth:        20
xscreensaver.Dialog.shadowThickness:    2
!timeout bar (background is actually determined by Dialog.text.background)
xscreensaver.passwd.thermometer.foreground:  #ff0000
xscreensaver.passwd.thermometer.background:  #000000
xscreensaver.passwd.thermometer.width:       8
!datestamp format--see the strftime(3) manual page for details
xscreensaver.dateFormat:    %I:%M%P %a %b %d, %Y

.vimrc

If you want to do any kind of advanced text editing (programming, etc), you’ll want a proper editor. And vim is definitely a suitable option when configured properly.
My .vimrc below is largely inspired by Steve Losh’s “Coming Home to Vim“, though it does contain some of my own preferences as well.
With regards to Vim, there are a couple of plugins I recommend you download. The script below only contains a couple of them: ZenCoding and CloseTag, but have a read of the above article and find your own combination.

 " Get indentation
set autoindent

set guioptions-=T " Remove toolbar
set vb t_vb= " No more beeps
set backspace=2 " Backspace over newlines

" GUI fixes
set ruler " Where am I?
set ttyfast
set laststatus=2

" Relative line numbers
set relativenumber

" Permanent undo
set undofile

" Autocomplete
set wildmenu
set wildmode=list:longest

" Fix tabs
set shiftwidth=4
set softtabstop=4
set tabstop=4
set expandtab

" Get syntax
syntax on

" Style vim
colors clouds

" Keymaps
let mapleader = ","
nnoremap <tab> %
vnoremap <tab> %
inoremap <F1> <ESC>
vnoremap <F1> <ESC>
vnoremap <F1> <ESC>
inoremap jj <ESC>

" Good-bye arrow keys... =(
nnoremap <up> <nop>
nnoremap <down> <nop>
nnoremap <left> <nop>
nnoremap <right> <nop>
inoremap <up> <nop>
inoremap <down> <nop>
inoremap <left> <nop>
inoremap <right> <nop>
nnoremap j gj
nnoremap k gk

" Proper search
nnoremap / /\v
vnoremap / /\v
set ignorecase
set smartcase
set gdefault

" Script plugins
au Filetype html,xml,xsl,php source ~/.vim/scripts/closetag.vim
au Filetype html,xml,css,php source ~/.vim/scripts/zencoding.vim

" Filetype indenting
filetype indent on

" Load indentation rules and plugins
" according to the detected filetype.
if has("autocmd")
  filetype plugin indent on
endif

" Settings
set nocompatible
set modelines=0
set encoding=utf-8
set scrolloff=3
set showmode
set showcmd
set hidden

set showcmd       " Show (partial) command in status line.
set mouse=a       " Enable mouse usage (all modes) in terminals