An Empirical Study of Dotfiles Repositories Containing User-Specific Configuration Files
Wenhan Zhu, Michael W. Godfrey
TL;DR
This study empirically investigates the practice of sharing and maintaining user-specific dotfiles on GitHub. It builds a high-quality dataset of 3,305 dotfiles repositories from an initial pool of 147,548, and analyzes ownership, content taxonomy, and commit-based maintenance using time-series clustering. Key findings show that 25.8% of the top 500 GitHub users own a dotfiles repo, with Vim, Bash/Zsh, and Git metadata being the most common; updates are largely driven by configuration changes and repository management, with no strong link between dotfile type and churn history. The work provides practical insights for tool designers and advocates leveraging public dotfiles to inform defaults, documentation, and reproducible deployment, complemented by a replication package for future research.
Abstract
Storing user-specific configuration files in a "dotfiles" repository is a common practice among software developers, with hundreds of thousands choosing to publicly host their repositories on GitHub. This practice not only provides developers with a simple backup mechanism for their essential configuration files, but also facilitates sharing ideas and learning from others on how best to configure applications that are key to their daily workflows. However, our current understanding of these repository sharing practices is limited and mostly anecdotal. To address this gap, we conducted a study to delve deeper into this phenomenon. Beginning with collecting and analyzing publicly-hosted dotfiles repositories on GitHub, we discovered that maintaining dotfiles is widespread among developers. Notably, we found that 25.8% of the top 500 most-starred GitHub users maintain some form of publicly accessible dotfiles repository. Among these, configurations for text editors like Vim and shells such as bash and zsh are the most commonly tracked. Our analysis reveals that updating dotfiles is primarily driven by the need to adjust configurations (63.3%) and project meta-management (25.4%). Surprisingly, we found no significant difference in the types of dotfiles observed across code churn history patterns, suggesting that the frequency of dotfile modifications depends more on the developer than the properties of the specific dotfile and its associated application. Finally, we discuss the challenges associated with managing dotfiles, including the necessity for a reliable and effective deployment mechanism, and how the insights gleaned from dotfiles can inform tool designers by offering real-world usage information.