twpayne
commented
2 years ago Yes, chezmoi can manage significant differences from machine to machine. You should probably read all of this page.
To test your configuration safely, you can use the chezmoi diff command to show what changes chezmoi would make, without changing your home directory.
RESDXChgfore9hing
What exactly are you trying to do?
TLDR,can chezmoi manage (an os dependent directory) that are 2-3 layer deep with text files that has os dependant changes while also has shared data? It should be possible but I currently cannot imagine the flow to implement it with chezmoi. or Maybe I am not supposed to use chezmoi but maybe some file manager?
What have you tried so far?
tried imagining the layout and flow,didnt try actually moving homeroll setup to chezmoi.Because its a production setup.Needs backup and actually know what I need to do then attempt to do.
Where else have you checked for solutions?
The full details
For example,in my windows machine there is 3 folders. (apps,java,py) apps is for binaries(generally foss thanks),eg activity watch,keepassxc,etc... java ..well like minecraft,etc, py ...most cross platform small script online or self wrote.
a view of tree
├─apps │ ├─activitywatch ........
So here is the problem.
The content in apps from windows machine is not the same as linux.(dll ~= so .sorry if obvious) But that's fine.I already had somekind of configuration text file,kinda like gradle or makefile.But for downloading foss binaries,etc. 1.I just need to make sure the same text file and some OS dependant binary or config is there,but is it possible for chezmoi to (merge and split/generate back) the text file or binaries?
2.It should be merged into a more simple directory,while keeping the os differences. No point still keeping multiple (directory/file) backups while manually copy and paste the text configs,using diff or manual work or whatever.
instead THIS 1 file.NICE.
Current backup inner: LINUX(APPS(config,appimage),JAVA(minecraft,jars),PY(scripts)),WIN(APPS(config),JAVA,PY),MAC(APPS(config),JAVA,PY)
Expected final inner: ALL(APPS(sharedconfig,linuxconfigdiff,winconfigdiff,macconfigdiff),JAVA,PY)
What I know
-chezmoi uses git,so complex directory layout is ok.
-managing the individual tweaks in content seems to be possible(due to dotfiles itself is also quite complex with lua codes and py codes flying around) I have no idea how to implement these complex logic with chezmoi properly.If I missed something,It would be very bad to have partial chezmoi,partial homeroll flow.Its probably more chaotic.
-Asking these simple question in a git issue could be annoying to developer.But,Any help or directions would be appreciated.