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https://github.com/protesilaos/dotfiles

Configuration files for Emacs and some other programs. Running on Arch Linux. Managed with GNU Stow.
https://github.com/protesilaos/dotfiles

dotfiles emacs gnu linux

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Configuration files for Emacs and some other programs. Running on Arch Linux. Managed with GNU Stow.

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# My Emacs and other configurations for Arch Linux



This is the set of files that powers my day-to-day computing experience.

GNU Emacs is its centrepiece, with other programs providing ancillary

functionalities.  In some cases, such as with the configurations for

Vim, all relevant files are carried over from my pre-Emacs days and are

maintained as a contingency plan or in case I need to revisit some old

setup.



## Do not track my dotfiles (rolling, unstable, and untested)



_Ceci n'est pas une distribution Emacs._



This repo functions as a laboratory of experimentation for my computing

environment.  What I do with Emacs or any other program in the GNU/Linux

milieu that forms part of my dotfiles is only meant to work for me.  As

such, I offer no support whatsoever to those tracking this repository

and may introduce breaking changes without prior notice.



This is all to say that **you understand the risks associated with

tracking an ever-changing project that does not enjoy widespread testing

and whose target audience is only me**.  If you are fine with that and

are willing to assume responsibility for any possible breakage, then

please feel welcome to follow along.  You can always open an issue here

or contribute any fixes, if you will.



## Emacs setup



I do not recommend you reproduce my Emacs setup because I do not

design it as a distribution for other people. If you insist though,

the files are in the `emacs` directory. Add them to your home

directory with:



```sh

/path/to/prot-dotfiles $ stow -t "$HOME" emacs

```



This will create symlinks to my configuration files inside the

`~/.emacs.d` directory.  My custom libraries are in the directory

`prot-lisp` while the configuration modules (where we tweak variables,

assign key bindings, etc.) are in the directory `prot-emacs-modules`.



The modules are loaded from the `init.el`.  Each module defines the

packages to install/load.  **My setup auto-installs packages**.  This

will happen the first time you start up Emacs.



Read the file `prot-emacs.org` for further information on the anatomy

of my Emacs setup.



If you make changes to the dotfiles, such as by moving things around,

run stow again with the `-R` flag:



```sh

/path/to/prot-dotfiles $ stow -t "$HOME" -R emacs

```



## Window managers



My tiling window managers for Xorg are bspwm, herbstluftwm, and i3 (in

no particular order). They are all configured to be almost the same:

they share settings for the wallpaper, system panel, theme, keyboard

layout, and display compositor. All settings are in the `xorg-twm`

directory ("twm" stands for "tiling window manager"). What

differentiates the window managers is their individual features.



+ **bspwm:** I have been using it for years and consider it top-notch.

  It is minimal, stable, and scriptable.  Use this if you prefer

  automatic tiling.  It does not have layout features out-of-the-box,

  such as a tabbed layout: it can place windows in tiles or float

  them.



+ **herbstluftwm (hlwm):** herbstluftwm prioritises manual tiling

  methods and can treat arbitrary rectangles of a monitor as virtual

  monitors.  The virtual monitors feature is perfect for anyone with a

  widescreen display.  The one I have (which is not mine, but anyway)

  is 2560x1080, so I split it by default into a regular 1920x1080 area

  and another "sidebar" of 640x1080.  herbstluftwm has the concept of

  "frame", which is a container of regular windows.  Each frame can

  have its own layout, including a vertical/horizontal stack, grid,

  and tabbed.



+ **i3 (or i3wm):** The first tiling window manager I ever used (circa

  2017).  The reason I abandoned it back in the day in favour of bspwm

  is because its default tiling method requires manual intervention to

  change the split direction.  On a small laptop monitor, I prefer

  this to be done automatically, hence bspwm.  Though on a wide

  monitor, I typically keep the split direction constant.  i3 has the

  concept of the "container" (same as herbstluftwm "frame"), which can

  be set to stacked, tabbed, or tiled layouts.  As such, i3 is

  somewhere between bspwm and herbstluftwm.  Choose according to your

  needs.



Check the `xtwm-key-binding-cheatsheet.md` file for an overview of

their key bindings.



When I have a video call or record a video of my desktop session, I

always use herbstluftwm because of its ability to support virtual

monitors.  Otherwise I oscillate between bspwm and i3, depending on

the machine I am using.



What about Wayland? I have experimented with it on GNOME where it

works fine. I even have some configurations for tiling compositors,

but am not happy with those. The Wayland ecosystem is not ready yet

for my use-case: I am missing something like sxhkd and certain

applications do not work properly on it, such screen sharing. I will

check again some time over the medium term, as Wayland seems

inevitable.



## Copying



Unless otherwise noted, all code herein is distributed under the terms

of the GNU General Public License Version 3 or later.