TechNicks' .bashrc Configuration (Linux/macOS)

Overview

mybash is a batteries-included .bashrc configuration plus the supporting scripts and config files needed to set it up. It configures the shell session with aliases, functions, a Starship prompt, fastfetch, fzf, and zoxide, turning a stock Bash into a considerably more usable terminal on Linux and macOS.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Installation
• What Gets Installed Where
• Switching Color Palettes
• Uninstallation
• Configuration Files
  • .bashrc
  • starship.toml
  • starship-theme
  • config.jsonc
• Key Features
• Functions Reference
• System-Specific Configurations

Requirements

• Linux with one of: nala, apt-get, dnf, yum, pacman, zypper, emerge, xbps-install, or nix-env, plus sudo (or doas) for package installation, or
• macOS, where the installer will bootstrap Homebrew if it is missing
• curl and git
• A terminal that can render Nerd Font glyphs (the installer sets this up where it can)

Installation

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/technicks89/mybash.git
cd mybash
./setup.sh

setup.sh automates the whole process:

• Installs dependencies with your system package manager: bash-completion, bat, tree, multitail, fastfetch, neovim, trash-cli, fzf, zoxide, plus curl, fontconfig, tar, and xz on Linux
• On macOS: installs Homebrew if missing, installs Bash 5 (bash) and bash-completion@2, starship, and the font-meslo-lg-nerd-font cask, adds Homebrew Bash to /etc/shells, and sets it as your login shell
• On Linux: installs Starship into ~/.local/bin via the official installer, and installs JetBrainsMono Nerd Font into ~/.local/share/fonts
• Copies the repository files into ~/.local/share/mybash
• Symlinks the configs into place (see below)
• Selects the Nerd Font in Ptyxis or GNOME Terminal when either is detected, backing up the previous font settings first
• Ensures ~/.bash_profile initializes Homebrew and sources ~/.bashrc on macOS

On macOS, setup.sh prompts for your password when it adds Homebrew Bash to /etc/shells and changes your default shell. Restart Terminal afterwards, then verify:

echo "$SHELL"
bash --version

$SHELL should point at the Homebrew Bash path — /opt/homebrew/bin/bash on Apple Silicon, /usr/local/bin/bash on Intel.

What Gets Installed Where

The repository files are copied into ~/.local/share/mybash, and the following symlinks point back at that directory:

Symlink	Target
~/.bashrc	~/.local/share/mybash/.bashrc
~/.config/starship.toml	~/.local/share/mybash/starship.toml
~/.config/fastfetch/config.jsonc	~/.local/share/mybash/config.jsonc
~/.local/bin/starship-theme	~/.local/share/mybash/starship-theme

Any pre-existing file at one of those paths is moved aside to <path>.bak.<timestamp> before the symlink is created.

Because starship-theme is linked into ~/.local/bin, that directory has to be on your PATH for the command to be found. The bundled .bashrc adds it automatically; if starship-theme reports "command not found" after installing, open a new shell or check echo "$PATH".

Switching Color Palettes

Use starship-theme to recolor the prompt without changing its layout:

starship-theme          # interactive picker (uses fzf when available)
starship-theme arch     # apply a palette directly
starship-theme list     # list available palettes

Available palettes: ubuntu, claude, arch, fedora, debian, mint, manjaro, popos, kali, gentoo, dracula, tokyonight, and nord (the original theme).

The script rewrites the six color slots in a pristine copy of starship.toml and writes the result to your live config. Two environment variables adjust that:

• STARSHIP_CONFIG — where the recolored config is written (default ~/.config/starship.toml)
• STARSHIP_THEME_BASE — the pristine starship.toml to recolor. If unset, the script looks next to itself, then falls back to ~/.local/share/mybash/starship.toml

Palettes are applied to the generated config, not stacked, so switching palettes repeatedly always starts from the pristine base.

Uninstallation

cd mybash
./uninstall.sh              # remove configuration and installed software
./uninstall.sh --keep-deps  # remove configuration only, keep software and fonts

uninstall.sh reverses the installation:

• Removes the installed dependencies and the Nerd Fonts (unless --keep-deps is passed)
• Removes starship, fzf, and zoxide
• Removes the symlinked configs, including ~/.local/bin/starship-theme
• Restores the newest ~/.bashrc.bak.* backup created during installation
• Restores the previous Ptyxis or GNOME Terminal font settings
• Deletes the data directory

Restart your shell afterwards.

Configuration Files

.bashrc

Defines the aliases, functions, and environment variables that make up the shell experience. Highlights:

• Safer defaults: cp and mv prompt before clobbering, mkdir implies -p, and rm is remapped to trash-put, trash, or gio trash when available so deletions are recoverable
• Editor detection: prefers nano, falling back to nvim, then vim, then vi, exporting EDITOR/VISUAL. When nvim is the one selected, vi and vim are aliased to it
• History management: PROMPT_COMMAND appends and reloads history so it is shared across concurrent sessions, with HISTCONTROL=erasedups:ignoredups:ignorespace to drop duplicates
• Navigation: .. through ....., bd to jump back, up N to climb N directories, and an ls after every cd
• Integrations: fastfetch on shell start, starship init bash, zoxide init bash, and Ctrl+f bound to zi for interactive directory jumping
• Package-manager fzf helpers: yayf/yayr on Arch, dnff/dnfr on Fedora, for fuzzy install and removal with package previews

starship.toml

Configures the Starship prompt — a single-line powerline layout with segments for the virtualenv, username, directory, git branch and status, language versions (C, Elixir, Elm, Go, Haskell, Java, Julia, Node, Nim, Rust), Docker context, and the time. Directory names like Documents and Downloads are substituted with Nerd Font glyphs.

starship-theme

A small Bash script that recolors starship.toml. See Switching Color Palettes.

config.jsonc

Configures fastfetch, the system information tool that runs at shell start. It sets the logo and separator styling and defines which modules are shown — CPU, GPU, OS, kernel, uptime, and custom hardware and software sections.

Key Features

1. Aliases and Functions — shortcuts for common commands, plus functions for archive extraction, copying with progress, and recursive text search
2. Prompt and History — Starship prompt with switchable palettes, automatic cross-session history saving, duplicate suppression
3. Safer File Operations — interactive cp/mv, trash-backed rm, and rmd kept available for genuinely destructive recursive deletes
4. Colorized Output — LS_COLORS, CLICOLOR, colored grep, less -R
5. Directory Navigation — Zoxide with an fzf-driven picker on Ctrl+f

Functions Reference

Function	Description
extract <file>	Extract any common archive format
ftext <string>	Recursively grep for text under the current directory
cpp <src> <dst>	Copy with a progress bar
cpg / mvg	Copy or move, then cd into the destination
mkdirg <dir>	Create a directory and cd into it
up <n>	Move up n directory levels
countfiles	Count files, links, and directories in the current directory
ver	Show the OS and version
distribution	Detect the running Linux distribution
trim <string>	Strip leading and trailing whitespace
gcom "<msg>"	git add . and commit
lazyg "<msg>"	git add ., commit, and push
ebrc	Open ~/.bashrc in your editor
sedit / svi	Edit a file as root with your editor
hlp	Page ~/.bashrc_help if present
apacheconfig / phpconfig / mysqlconfig	Open the relevant service config, searching the usual locations
apachelog	Tail the Apache access and error logs
install_bashrc_support	Install the supporting utilities for the current distro

System-Specific Configurations

• macOS prepends the Homebrew and trash paths, and sources Homebrew's bash_completion with a compatibility shim for Bash 3.2
• Linux sources the system bash_completion and installs Starship into ~/.local/bin
• rm, package-manager, and terminal-font aliases are all defined conditionally on what is actually present

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For issues, suggestions, or contributions, please open an issue or pull request. Community involvement is welcome.