First, fork this repo on Github.
Then, clone your Github fork (replace "your-github-name" with your Github name) onto your laptop and install it:
git clone --recurse-submodules git@github.com:your-github-name/dotfiles.git
cd dotfiles
./install.sh
This will create symlinks for all config files in your home directory. You can safely run this file multiple times to update.
There is configuration for zsh so switch your shell from the default bash to zsh on OS X:
chsh -s /bin/zsh
dotfiles are fairly personal. You should be able to modify your dotfiles, and save them in version control in your fork.
However, the fs folks are often tweaking these dotfiles and you want to be able to get those updates.
So, your master branch is meant for your customizations and use the upstream branch to get fs's updates.
You only have to do this once:
git remote add upstream git@github.com:fs/dotfiles.git
git fetch upstream
git checkout -b upstream upstream/master
You will want to customize your environment. We suggest making changes in files that are not in fs's files.
Commit those kinds of things in your master branch.
Then, each time you want to update thoughtbot's changes.
git checkout upstream
git pull
git checkout master
git rebase upstream