Use Git to manage dotfiles

Question

:: Disclaimer
I found some topics about placing ~ under version control, but none of the threads were specifically about dotfiles.
I'm completely new to Git and version control in general.
:: Problem
I want to version control some configuration files (.bashrc, .vimrc etc.) in ~ using Git. My reasons for this are as follows:
- Easy to backup files and discard changes.
- Share and synchronize configuration files between computers. I want to allow local customizations, more on this later.
Sounds pretty reasonable? The question is, how do I accomplish this? I did a little research, hoping to find a good article that described everything. What I found was a lot of articles[0-5], each describing its own way of using Git for dotfiles.
:: Solution?
I want to find an easy and straightforward way, that still allows flexibility. After some reading, I've come to the following conclusions:
- Having one git repository directly in ~ isn't a good idea. It's better to have one repo for each group of related files (e.g. all vim configuration).
- Some put the files in ~/dotfiles/* and symlink them, often using a script. This sounds rather complicated to me.
- There are already some scripts to handle everything: git-home and git-home-history. However, these seem to handle the whole ~, not specific dotfiles.
- My plan is to have a master branch where the common configuration are stored, and one branch for each computer for local customizations. (I haven't worked with branches before, but this is a pretty good opportunity to learn how, right?).
I like the sound of detached worktrees[5], but while it doesn't use symbolic links, it requires custom tools (scripts/mr tool). Maybe it's easier to go with the symbolic linking approach?
> Which method do you like the most, and are there any common pitfalls to look out for?
[0] http://psung.blogspot.com/2007/11/versi … emote.html
[1] http://wiki.debian-community.org/planet … directory/
[2] http://www.silassewell.com/blog/2009/03 … nd-github/
[3] http://robescriva.com/2009/01/manage-yo … -with-git/
[4] http://mnemonikk.org/2009/03/23/finally … n-control/
[5] http://tensixtyone.com/perma/the-versio … -directory

Answer 1

Mhh, problems.
I did the following in my ~/, ~/dotfiles is the folder where the git repo is placed:
echo 'testtesttest'> testfile
ln -s ~/testfile ~/dotfiles/testfile
cd dotfiles/
git status
worked like expected:
git status
# On branch master
# Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 6 commits.
# Untracked files:
# (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
# testfile
nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)
then
git add .
git status
# On branch master
# Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 6 commits.
# Changes to be committed:
# (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
# new file: testfile
git commit -m 'testfile'
[master 818fefe] testfile
1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
create mode 120000 testfile
Ok, now for the problem.:D
cd ~/
nano testfile (modifying the testfile)
cd dotfiles/
git status
# On branch master
# Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 7 commits.
nothing to commit (working directory clean)
I modified the testfile but git is not recognizing it?
I don't get it, also a 'git add .' did nothing. Why isn't git aware that I changed the testfile?
Thanks for help.