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whole process easier, but being away from it all for a while, I’m sure whatever used to be cool a few years ago has been replaced by something else now.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!
- 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’ve set up a bunch of config files on my GitHub, so I clone the repo into my distro and symlink it to set up a bunch of stuff. I’ve also written a script that can install all my programs by reading through a text file. It’s helpful to get up and running quickly
i use gsettings daemon. it handles fonts icons themes and can perform live dark/light mode switch
Hi, i’m kinda new to ricing but i will try to answer it:
- Yes, i’m using pywal for colorscheme sometimes
- Looks up for documentation of the program that i want to customize (i.e: neovim, qtile, etc)
- Github (and also toss everything out because i’m bored, don’t do what i did)
- Depends. If it a minimal distro (btw), yes. If it a complete distro, i will try to fiddle around first with the default config they have. Then customize the hell out of it I hope this helps :)
- Go through available documentation and look at other people’s configs. Partly learning from, partly blatant ripping.
- nix + git!
- I get essentials out of the way:
- basic window/workspace management keybinds
- status bar with time, workspaces, and volume display
then add everything else i want later.
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.
I’m curious, what distro do you have on your laptop?
Alpine Linux
Its the overused, bleeding edge one (you know what i meant). Prob will switch to endeavouros/nix though
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
It’s customizing and souping up your desktop to look cool, like car ricing is for souping up your car.
Commonly used to refer to poorly modified Hondas and/or other imports.
Kinda funny they use that word here.
No idea honestly, it’s the word that the community used back in the subreddit. I think it is exactly a reference to its use in the car world, though
Modified cars, common in Asia, are called rice burners. Hence the word ricing
- 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
