To install the dotfiles, it is usually best to create symlinks to the respective files in the dotfiles directory. To create a symlink on a UNIX/Linux system, issue the command
ln -s source target
For instance, if you want to create a symlink for the dotfiles/vimrc file, you would do the following:
ln -s /path/to/cloned_dotfiles/vimrc ~/.vimrc
This will create the link if the file (or link) in your home directory .vimrc
does not already exist, and will display an error if it does.
The simplest way to install the dotfiles into your home directory is to use the
Rakefile. With rake installed on your system,
issue the command rake install from the dotfiles/ directory. This will create
(or replace if they already exist) symlinks in your home directory.