Curtis Free

Blog

Keeping your home directory clean with Git @ 06 Aug 2011

I recently decided to keep my important and public dotfiles in a repository on Github. In doing so, I comitted most of the simple configuration files that I want to have present in my home directory.

Of course, though, over time I tend to collect numerous unwanted files in my home directory (e.g., .esd_auth, .zcompdump). Some time ago, I developed a series of scripts to clean up my home directory, and I typically run these scripts prior to shutting down my computer; however, I have found that it is easy to use Git to help keep my home directory constantly tidy.

After committing what one wants to a Git repository, a check of git status will reveal that everything else is not currently under version control. That's where excludes (or "ignores") come in handy. Assuming that the root of your repository is in your home directory, ~/.git/info/exclude can be used to tell Git which files you do not want under its control.

Here, add all files/directories that you want in your home directory but do not wish to commit. Ensure that you do not list any files you do not want at all (files like the aforementioned .zcompdump).

Now, barring any changes you have made to files that are in your repo, git status can be used to reveal a quick list of any unwanted files that have accumulated:

% git st # 'st' is an alias I have set for 'status'
# On branch master
# Untracked files:
#   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
#
#       .esd_auth
#       .gconfd/
#       .macromedia/
#       .viminfo
#       .vimperator/
#       .zcompdump
#       .zsh_history
nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

One caveat: Git will not "alert" you to unwanted directories (including nested directories) if they contain no actual files (see why here):

% grep ".adobe" .git/info/exclude
% tree .adobe
.adobe
`-- Flash_Player
    `-- AssetCache
        `-- 5885UGDY

3 directories, 0 files
% git st
# On branch master
nothing to commit (working directory clean)