Add daily email for 2024-08-08

To configure or not to configure

source/_daily_emails/2024-08-08.md

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+---
+title: To configure or not to configure
+date: 2024-08-08
+permalink: daily/2024/08/08/to-configure-or-not-to-configure
+tags:
+    - software-development
+    - linux
+    - vim
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+    How much should you configure your tools?
+---
+
+It's been [more than nine years][0] since I started [my dotfiles repository][1], which is a collection of configuration files for tools I use.
+
+Originally containing my `.gitconfig` configuration file for Git, it now contains my configuration for Neovim, tmux, Git and a lot more.
+
+One of the things I like is being able to see and read other peoples' dotfiles and take inspiration from their configurations.
+
+I see some configurations that are very complex and customised, and some which are simpler.
+
+Recently, I've been thinking about how much customisation is too much, and moving towards a more minimal configuration.
+
+This isn't specific to command-line tools and also applies to customising GUI programs such as PhpStorm or VSCode.
+
+A more complex configuration means more code to maintain.
+
+It's more difficult to work on different computers, whether you're pair or mob programming, or working on a remote server. Would you still be productive if you didn't have all your configurations?
+
+If you've changed the default behaviour of a command, such as not allowing merge commits in Git or rebasing by default, if someone doesn't have that same option, is that going to cause confusion or introduce inconsistencies?
+
+I'm not going to reset all my configuration files to their default values, but I'll continue to review and decide whether I want to customise something on a case by case basis and whether adding it - especially if it's a larger addition, such as adding a Vim plugin - is worth the maintenance overhead.
+
+The same as in an application, I don't want to add modules or plugins that I'm not going to use or aren't adding value, and I want to ensure I'm making the most of what the software offers.
+
+[0]: {{site.url}}/archive/2023/08/08/8-years-of-dotfiles
+[1]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles.nix