Voidrice: Luke Smith's Dotfiles, Deployed by LARBS

What Voidrice actually is, and who it is for

Voidrice is a collection of configuration files, not an application. The README describes it as "the dotfiles deployed by LARBS", and the top-level layout confirms that shape: .config/, .local/, .xprofile, .zprofile and a .gitmodules file, with no build system and no executable entry point. The primary language is Shell.

The problem it solves is the setup cost of a specific kind of Linux desktop. If you want vim or nvim, zsh, lf, mpd with ncmpcpp, nsxiv, mpv and a set of shell scripts wired together, writing that configuration from scratch takes days. Voidrice is one person's answer, kept in one place, and installed through the LARBS script.

The intended audience is narrow and the README is explicit about it. The dotfiles are meant to go with dwm as the window manager, dwmblocks as the statusbar and st as the terminal emulator, all from the same author's forks. Someone running GNOME, KDE or a tiling compositor that is not dwm is not the target reader. There is also a recommendation to try mutt-wizard, a terminal email client that the README says is integrated into these dotfiles.

How the configuration is organized and where scripts live

The README states a deliberate rule: minimize what sits directly in ~. Configs that can live in ~/.config/ are placed there, and some environment variables are set in ~/.zprofile so that programs look inside ~/.config/ instead of ~ for their files. That is the whole architectural idea. There is no templating layer, no per-host variable substitution, and no generation step.

The executable part of the repository is ~/.local/bin/, which the README calls out as holding "very useful scripts". These scripts are what make the configs behave as a system rather than as isolated files. Bookmarks are a concrete example: the README says bookmarks live in text files consumed by scripts such as ~/.local/bin/shortcuts, with file bookmarks in ~/.config/shell/bm-files and directory bookmarks in ~/.config/shell/bm-dirs. So the file manager and shell integration read plain text lists that you edit by hand.

The .gitmodules file indicates that at least part of the tree is pulled in as a git submodule, though the README does not name which. That matters for installation: a plain download of the repository archive will not populate submodule contents, so a git clone with submodules is the safer route if you are not using the installer.

One consequence of the ~/.config/ rule is that the repository and the programs it configures are tightly coupled. Moving the files somewhere else, or merging them into an existing configuration tree, means the environment variables in ~/.zprofile and the paths baked into the scripts no longer line up.

Installing Voidrice with LARBS

The README gives one supported path: the LARBS installer. It is a single script fetched over the network, and it handles both the dotfiles and the dependency list.

curl -LO larbs.xyz/larbs.sh

That downloads the installer into the current directory. The README does not show the invocation step, so read the script before running it; the README does not document a rollback or an uninstall path.

The alternative the README offers is manual: clone the repository files directly to your home directory and install the dependencies yourself. The dependency list is a file in the LARBS repository, not in Voidrice.

# dependencies are listed in LARBS, not in this repo:
# https://github.com/LukeSmithxyz/LARBS/blob/master/static/progs.csv

If you go the manual route, clone with submodules so the .gitmodules entries resolve, then read progs.csv and install those packages through your distribution's package manager. After that, the first real use is not a command but a session: log out and back in so ~/.zprofile is sourced, then open st and confirm that zsh starts with the expected environment. The README does not describe a verification command, so the practical check is whether the programs it names (lf, ncmpcpp, nsxiv, mpv) start and find their configs.

Where Voidrice is the wrong tool

The clearest limitation is the coupling to suckless software. dwm, dwmblocks and st are named in the README as the intended companions, and the configs assume them. On a system running a different window manager or terminal, a large part of the repository is dead weight: the files are present, nothing reads them, and you have added a tree of configuration to maintain for no benefit.

The second limitation is the installer's scope. LARBS is described as autoinstalling "everything", which means the dependency list in progs.csv, not just the dotfiles. On a machine that already has a working desktop, that is a large and largely invisible change. The README does not document a dry run, a package selection step, or a way to install the dotfiles alone through the installer. Anyone who wants only the shell and editor configuration has to do the manual clone and pick packages by hand.

The third is the single-author assumption. There is no documented mechanism for layering your own overrides, no profile system, and no stated policy for local modifications. Since the files live directly in ~/.config/ and ~/.local/bin/, your edits sit in the same tree as upstream changes, and pulling a new version means reconciling them yourself. The README is silent on this, which is itself the answer: the project is maintained as one person's configuration, and that is how it should be treated.

Finally, the repository has no releases. There is nothing to pin to, so the only version you can track is the state of the master branch at the time you clone.

Voidrice compared with a general dotfile manager

The natural alternative is a dotfile manager such as GNU Stow, chezmoi or yadm, and the difference is one of kind rather than degree. A dotfile manager solves the problem of getting your files onto a machine: it symlinks or templates them into place, tracks which host gets which variant, and stays out of the way of the content. Voidrice solves the problem of what the content should be. It is a finished configuration for a specific set of programs, with the placement problem handled by the LARBS script.

That distinction has practical consequences. With a dotfile manager, you bring your own configs and the tool moves them. With Voidrice, you bring the machine and the repository supplies the configs. If what you actually want is to keep your existing zsh and vim setup synchronized across three computers, Voidrice is not that tool and LARBS is not that installer. If what you want is a working terminal-centric desktop on a fresh install with minimal decisions, the manager alone leaves you writing the configs first.

The two are not mutually exclusive. A reasonable arrangement is to let LARBS or a manual clone put Voidrice in place, then put the whole home directory tree under a dotfile manager of your choosing so your subsequent edits are versioned. The README does not suggest this, and it is worth noting that the ~/.config/ convention Voidrice follows is exactly the layout most managers expect, which makes the combination less awkward than it first appears.

Licence and upgrade cost

Voidrice is licensed GPL-3.0, stated in the repository's LICENSE file and in the project metadata. For a dotfile collection this is a permissive-enough situation in practice: you can use, modify and redistribute the configuration, and if you distribute a modified version you carry the same licence obligations. This is not legal advice, and the GPL's treatment of configuration files that are not compiled into a binary is a question for a lawyer if you plan to ship them inside a product.

One asset is explicitly not covered by that blanket. The README credits the default desktop artwork to Thomas Thiemeyer, titled The Road to Samarkand, with links to the artist's Facebook and Instagram pages. The licence line in the repository does not settle the status of that image, and the README does not state terms for it. If you redistribute the wallpaper, that is the item to check first.

Upgrade cost is the more practical concern. There are no releases, so upgrades mean pulling master and resolving differences against your local edits. The last push was on 2026-09-10, so the tree is current as of that date. Because the configs are plain files with no generation step, a merge is readable: you can diff, see which programs changed, and decide file by file. The cost is your time, not a migration procedure, since the project does not document one.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Voidrice if you already run or intend to run the suckless trio it targets, and if you are willing to let LARBS install the dependency list from progs.csv on a fresh system. Do not adopt it if you use a full desktop environment, a different terminal, or a dotfile manager that expects to own ~/.config; the repository's configs are written for specific programs and will be inert or conflicting elsewhere. Before committing, verify three things: that your distribution is supported by the LARBS installer, which programs progs.csv will add, and which files under .config/ and .local/ would overwrite something you already have. The repository is GPL-3.0, and the last push was on 2026-09-10.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: GPL-3.0
3. LukeSmithxyz/voidrice on GitHub
4. README