Hey all! Thought I’d start this discussion to see how you all go about customizing your systems.
I’ve been using a mostly default system for a while, both on my work and personal laptops, because at a certain point the whole customization thing just became too much work, I lost configs and I never really felt like spending much time on it anymore.
At a point I might’ve had a cool look going, but I was never able to get all of my programs using it correctly (GTK vs QT problems if I remember correctly), there was no good obvious way to backup my configs and transitioning them to a new system.
And I know that some tools have popped up in the meantime to make this whole process easier, but being away from it all for a while, I’m sure whatever used to be cool a few years ago has been replaced by something else now.
So I’m interested to know how you go about customizing your systems.
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Do you use any tools to auto generate configs or color schemes?
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What is your general workflow when you start customizing?
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Do you use any backup methods and keep your rices stored/archived, or do you just toss everything out and start anew whenever you feel bored?
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When you set up a new system or distro, do you immediately customize the hell out of it, or do you slowly change things as you go?
Cheers!
My answers to your questions in order:
- No.
- No workflow.
- I have periodic backups of the entire system, but I do not organize my configs or anything like that.
- I only customize the install on my laptop and it is over time, I do not install different distros on it, just the same install ever since I got it. On any other install I usually use the defaults.
- Nope
- 3&4 is the workflow
- I keep my
/home/
on another drive, so reinstalls pick up where I left off - Immediately with GTK and frequently used program themes until satisfied, then more slowly as I go
I’m not a unix pornograph pro by any means, but I usually do things by hand. If I want an automation, I will make it by hand.
I don’t have a workflow, as I don’t usually set out to “make something”. It’s just that I want my desktop to show/look/do things a certain way and I will make it do that, and pile it on top of all the other times I’ve done this.
No backups but I am generally terrible at keeping backups.
I generally don’t distro hop. When I get a new system I try to port some things that have become integral to my use of any system, and I generally end up with a different config over time by doing step 2 on that system.
Why ‘Ricing’? I tried searching but could only find explanations of the word related to cars
- I don’t use any tools to generate config & color schemes but I use Gradience to generate css for adw-gtk3 & libadwaita
- Setup WM/compositor, bar & terminal first
- I upload some of my rices to a GitHub repository
- Immediately if it’s minimal distro