---
title: "dotfiles"
description: "Computer setup and settings. Apple Silicon ready."
canonical_url: "https://br3ndonland.github.io/projects/dotfiles/"
md_url: "https://br3ndonland.github.io/projects/dotfiles.md"
---

[Projects](https://br3ndonland.github.io/projects)

# dotfiles

[![Photo of Brendon Smith's standing desk at home](https://br3ndonland.github.io/_astro/brendon-smith-home-desk.op2jFCik_Ze5LX3.jpg)](https://br3ndonland.github.io/_astro/brendon-smith-home-desk.op2jFCik.jpg)

Computer setup and settings. Apple Silicon ready.

[Repository](https://github.com/br3ndonland/dotfiles)

My dotfiles repo contains my computer setup and settings. "Dotfiles" are application configuration and settings files. They frequently begin with a dot, hence the name. Dotfiles are compatible with Linux and macOS.

I use this repo to set up and automate my development environment. _Why?_

- **Make developer environments automated and disposable**. [Disposability](https://12factor.net/disposability) is an important concept in [infrastructure-as-code DevOps](https://opentofu.org/docs/intro/use-cases/), [serverless computing](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/serverless/what-is-serverless/), [CI/CD](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/understanding-github-actions), and more recently, [in-browser development environments](https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces/overview). Why aren't developers applying automation and disposability to their own computers? With an automated disposable developer environment, setup of a new machine is fast and easy. This approach is also liberating - I can purchase a new computer (or wipe an existing one), run a single script, and be up and running again in no time.
- **Know when and why settings change**. I not only know what tools and settings I'm using, but when and why I chose the tools and settings. This has been particularly important for VSCode, because settings change (and [break](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/labels/bug)) frequently, and it helps to record troubleshooting info in the Git log.
- **Learn new skills**. I learn skills, like shell scripting, that are useful and don't go out of date quickly. I wouldn't know shell as well if I didn't work on my developer environment. I learn these skills by tinkering a little bit at a time, in an unstructured way. It's time I might not otherwise be writing code.