Linux Setup Log [2024]
[2024]

Overview

I would like to migrate my originally scattered and messy setup files to a more rigorous and reproducible framework. I should have the organizational maturity now to do this better than in the past.

- Step 1 : Be tinkering
I don't want to significantly change how I use the computer at this stage, so the problem has shifted from what to use to tinkering with what I do use.
- Step 2 : Migrate to Makefiles
Use Makefiles liberally. In the limit, have everything run in Makefiles, which then look for external scripts for anything that gets too hairy.
- Step 3 : Minimize
Install the fewest number of tools possible for a stable machine. I don't play modern games and I don't have social media accounts, so the main thing most people use computers for is toast. That's in your advantage.

Packages

Packages I commonly use. This list should be kept updated.

Emacs

I use Emacs as my main text editor. As part of setup, there should be a symlink of `.emacs.d/` from wherever my dotfiles are cloned to /home/[name]/.

In my dotfiles Makefile I provide a linkEmacs target. Clone the repo and run the `make` command to automatically link and use my Emacs config. This will be slow the first time you run it, due to the many melpa packages that will be downloaded and installed.

The file .emacs.d/racinit.org is a markdown-like file that I keep my customization source code in, alongside lots of comments. For more info about specific Emacs packages I'm using, look there.

TODO Color Themes

Once you settle on a color palette, display them in rectangles here in their color, with the hex value inside.

A customized experience is a luxury experience and there are certain colors I like more than others. On the other hand, I do not want to spend much time editing such things anymore, and I now see the computer as mainly a tool for work and not a toy. It wouldn't take too much to push me over the edge of simply using out-of-the-box white backgrounds with black text. I would therefore like to settle on a set of colors once and for all for a color theme to use across customized software.

TODO My Colors

Below is my current rxvt color theme [02.25.2024] for reference on some colors I'm settling on.

! Background

URxvt.cursorColor:    #7d7d7d
URxvt.highlightColor: #ffffff

! special
*.foreground:   #000000
*.background:   [98]#cacaca
*.cursorColor:  #000000

! tmux bar
!! background
*.color0:       #bb99ff
!! foreground
*.color8:       #000000

! directories & border of neptune logo
*.color12:      #7b3fa7
! symlinks
*.color14:      #0077ff

! center of neptune logo & neofetch text
*.color13:	 #9d70b1

*.color1:       #a54242
*.color9:       #a00000
*.color2:       #77009f
*.color10:      #0040bf
*.color3:       #8e00bd
*.color11:      #b32257
*.color4:       #5f819d
*.color5:       #bba2c3

! cyan
*.color6:       #3a3f3f


! white
*.color7:       #192026
*.color15:      #000000

Online Editors

  • Emacs : A kind netizen has created an online color theme editor.
  • terminal : An online editor for multiple terminal emulators, including Terminator and .Xresources style packages.

Edit Log

Sunday 25 February 2024

  • Began tweaking rxvt colorthemes for reading ease.
  • Added .emacs.d linking to Makefile.