2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
title: "Overview"
|
|
|
|
|
permalink: /docs/overview
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
2019-03-20 01:53:14 -04:00
|
|
|
<a name=""></a><!-- Anchor "#" used at the ends of pagination -->
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
> You've spent time tweaking your computing environment. Everything operates the
|
|
|
|
|
way you want. That's fantastic! Then your hard drive fails, and the computer
|
2020-06-30 17:10:25 -04:00
|
|
|
needs to be rebuilt. yadm can restore your configurations.
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> You get a new computer, and you want to recreate that environment. You
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
probably want to keep both machines' configurations in sync. yadm can help
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
you coordinate the configurations between your machines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
> You begin experimenting with new changes to your configurations, and now
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
everything is broken. yadm can help you determine what changed or simply
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
revert all of your changes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
yadm is like having a version of Git, that only operates on your dotfiles.
|
|
|
|
|
If you know how to use Git, you already know how to use yadm.
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* It doesn't matter if your current directory is another Git-managed repository
|
|
|
|
|
* You don't have to move your dotfiles, or have them symlinked from another
|
|
|
|
|
location.
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
* yadm automatically inherits all of Git's features, allowing you to branch,
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
merge, rebase, use submodules, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As so many others, I started out with a repository of dotfiles and a few scripts
|
|
|
|
|
to symbolically link them around my home directory. This quickly became
|
|
|
|
|
inadequate and I looked for solutions elsewhere. I've tried other tools, but I
|
|
|
|
|
didn't find all of the features I personally wished for in a single tool. This
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
led to yadm being written with the following goals:
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Use a single repository
|
|
|
|
|
* Few dependencies
|
|
|
|
|
* Ability to use alternate files based on OS or host
|
|
|
|
|
* Ability to encrypt and track confidential files
|
|
|
|
|
* Stay out of the way and let Git do what it's good at
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
Follow these links to [install](install) yadm
|
2016-09-06 23:19:16 -04:00
|
|
|
or
|
2019-10-19 14:59:03 -04:00
|
|
|
learn some simple steps for [getting started](getting_started) with yadm.
|
