If you use more than one computer, keeping your dotfiles in sync is difficult. You either need to run a sync program like ChronoSync or set up your own rsync scripts. And then remember to run them.

I’m lazy, I just want it to work. So here is a lightweight way to share your key dotfiles across computers using Dropbox.

Create a folder in Dropbox called Scripts and save your dotfiles there:

$ cp ~/.inputrc ~/Dropbox/Scripts/inputrc.txt
$ cp ~/.bash_profile ~/Dropbox/Scripts/bash_profile.sh

Note: The leading dots have been removed in Dropbox so the files are not hidden and will sync. I also add file extensions to make editing them easier.

Now that they are shared on each computer, replace your ~/.bash_profile with:

# Copy my shared inputrc (may require 2 loads)
cp ~/Dropbox/Scripts/inputrc.txt ~/.inputrc

# Use my shared profile
source ~/Dropbox/Scripts/bash_profile.sh

I have this saved as use_this_bash_profile.sh and, on each computer, just once

$ cp ~/Dropbox/Scripts/use_this_bash_profile.sh ~/.bash_profile

Boom, edit dotfiles once, shared on all computers automatically.

Bonus Tip: Plonk all your other common scripts in the same shared folder and add it to your PATH.

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