BOXEN

At GitHub, we've been growing pretty quickly and that sort of growth presents a lot of challenges. We were feeling the pain of trying to teach everyone (developers and designers alike) how to get GitHub and all our other projects running on their laptops. The process was failure-prone, complex, and time-consuming. So, last summer, we created the first iteration of The Setup — GitHub's method of managing laptops without getting all authoritarian about it. We quickly realized that other organizations needed and wanted this environment, so we started back with the basics and re-architected The Setup into Boxen. The same tool, the same method, but written for modularity and general consumption.

We’ve since released Boxen (as of February 2013). This talk covers what Boxen is, some of the design choices involved, how to get running with Boxen, and more.

Transcript

1. BOXEN
   

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2. 
   wfarr
   

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3. 
   ops
   

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4. 
   friction
   

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5. what is a boxen?
   

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6. Ruby Framework
   

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7. @jbarnette + @wfarr
   

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8. when two developers get really
   angry at how awful a bunch of
   things are, they write code
   

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9. Boxen is a
   framework
   

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10. Boxen is a
    standard library
    

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11. Boxen is a
    philosophy on how your
    machine should be
    configured
    

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12. Boxen tries to make
    installing system
    dependencies,
    configuring your machine,
    and generally everything
    easier and automated
    

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13. why should i use
    boxen?
    

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14. shipping day one
    

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15. It's my first day at company X.
    So excited to work on $THING!
    

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16. Ohai new laptop! I'm gonna spend
    the next like three days
    configuring you in the best way I
    can and hopefully I can write some
    code soon
    

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17. Ohai new laptop! I'm gonna spend
    the next like three days
    configuring you in the best way I
    can and hopefully I can write some
    code soon
    lame
    

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18. 1. open boxen-web
    2. run the command
    3. ship code
    

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19. constant updates
    

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20. "Only run this once and if anything
    breaks just reformat and do it
    again from scratch."
    

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21. "Only run this once and if anything
    breaks just reformat and do it
    again from scratch."
    lame
    

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22. Want to know how GitHub tested
    ruby 1.9.3 in development?
    

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23. I pushed an update to Boxen.
    

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24. And then I sent an email and said
    "Hey, this is changing, here's why,
    and it'll happen the next time you
    run Boxen. That's it. Easy."
    

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25. The next time they ran Boxen, it
    installed our custom Ruby 1.9.3
    build, configured their local
    github.com to use it, and
    everything from there just worked
    

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26. If you make updating hard,
    people won't update.
    

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27. If people don't update,
    you lack consistency between
    development and production.
    

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28. If you lack consistency in
    development and production,
    you're going to have a bad time.
    

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29. security
    

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30. zomg java is hella unsafe in safari
    because
    

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31. so let's send an email and maybe
    people will read it and maybe they
    will disable java in safari and
    maybe life will go on
    

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32. so let's send an email and maybe
    people will read it and maybe they
    will disable java in safari and
    maybe life will go on
    lame
    

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34. Now everyone is secure by default.
    

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35. repeatable process
    

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36. Huh. $NEWEMPLOYEE, I'm not
    sure why $TOOL is acting this way
    for you. I think I set it up this way
    and I've never seen this before.
    

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37. Huh. $NEWEMPLOYEE, I'm not
    sure why $TOOLtool is acting this
    way for you. I think I set it up this
    way and I've never seen this
    before.
    lame
    

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38. manual processes
    are error prone
    

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39. human beings
    are error prone
    

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40. computers
    are error prone as we make them
    

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41. community
    

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42. we open-sourced Boxen on friday
    (pst)
    (5 days ago today)
    

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43. 107 closed pull requests +
    17 open pull requests
    

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44. 198 closed issues +
    43 open issues
    

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45. the community
    is interested in seeing Boxen
    improve
    

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46. GitHub
    is interested in seeing Boxen
    improve
    

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47. It's not abandon-ware
    

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48. We use the same modules
    

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49. boxen/our-boxen
    is extracted from GitHub's boxen
    and kept closely in sync
    

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50. stdlib
    

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51. Puppet has this thing called the
    Puppet Forge
    

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52. It's kinda like rubygems.org
    

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53. but imagine now you've got 10
    gems trying to be bundler that
    ship the `bundle` command all
    fighting with one another about
    who's the best
    

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54. oh and random other libraries
    depend on specific
    implementations of that bundler-
    wannabe
    

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55. oh and random other libraries
    depend on specific
    implementations of that bundler-
    wannabe
    lame
    

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56. oh and random other libraries
    depend on specific
    implementations of that bundler-
    wannabe
    lame
    la
    m
    e
    lame
    lam
    la
    lame
    lame
    

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57. Boxen shipped with about 90
    modules all designed to not get in
    the way
    

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58. you can roll your own, but we've
    already made it easy for you
    

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59. p.s. chef has a lot of the same
    problems with 3rd party tooling
    too. it's not just a puppet thing.
    

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60. how does boxen
    work?
    

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61. puppet
    

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62. Puppet is a configuration
    management tool
    

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63. Puppet code says
    "I want my system to look like so"
    

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64. Running Puppet
    makes sure the system looks like so
    

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65. Every single time
    

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66. Idempotent
    

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67. puppet codez
    

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68. Resources
    

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69. package { 'git': }
    service { 'mysqld': }
    user { 'wfarr': }
    exec { 'rm -rf /': }
    

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70. Types
    

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71. cron, exec, file, host, mount,
    package, service, ssh_authorized_key,
    user, vlan, zfs, and way more
    

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72. Providers
    

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73. package => aptget, pkgdmg, yum, etc
    service => init, systemd, upstart, etc
    

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74. package { 'git':
    ensure => '1.8.1',
    provider => 'aptget',
    }
    

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75. exec { 'rm -rf /':
    onlyif => '/bin/false',
    provider => 'shell'
    }
    

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76. Variables
    

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77. $somevar = "whatever"
    

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78. That's cool, chief.
    Let me try.
    

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79. $hostname = `hostname`
    

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80. $hostname = `hostname`
    nope
    

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81. Facter
    

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82. $::hostname #=> "scruffy"
    $::macosx_buildversion #=> "12C2034"
    $::osfamily #=> "Darwin"
    $::sp_l3_cache #=> "3 MB"
    

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83. Facter.add("root_encrypted") do
    def root_encrypted?
    system "/usr/sbin/diskutil",
    "coreStorage",
    "info",
    "/",
    "> /dev/null 2>&1"
    end
    setcode do
    root_encrypted? ? 'yes' : 'no'
    end
    end
    

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84. Classes
    

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85. class git {
    # some git stuff
    }
    

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86. class git::package {
    case $::operatingsystem {
    Debian: {
    package { 'git-core': }
    }
    default: {
    package { 'git': }
    }
    }
    }
    

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87. class git {
    require apt
    include git::config
    include git::package
    }
    

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88. Relationships
    

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89. class mysql {
    package { 'mysql': }
    file { '/etc/my.cnf':
    mode => '0400',
    owner => 'mysql',
    }
    service { 'mysql': }
    }
    

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90. class mysql {
    package { 'mysql': }
    file { '/etc/my.cnf':
    mode => '0400',
    owner => 'mysql',
    }
    service { 'mysql': }
    }
    wrong
    

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91. class mysql {
    package { 'mysql':
    notify => Service['mysql'],
    }
    file { '/etc/my.cnf':
    mode => '0400',
    owner => 'mysql',
    notify => Service['mysql'],
    require => Package['mysql'],
    }
    service { 'mysql': }
    }
    

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92. Metaparameters
    

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93. notify/before
    subscribe/require
    

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94. Puppet is Declarative
    

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95. Puppet is not Procedural
    

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96. Use the DAG
    

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97. modules
    

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98. A lot like Ruby
    

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99. Puppet loads modules off the
    modulepath
    

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100. Modules have a certain
     directory layout
     

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101. .
     !"" files
     # $"" static_file
     !"" lib
     # !"" facter
     # # $"" a_custom_fact.rb
     # $"" puppet
     # !"" parser
     # # $"" functions
     # # $"" a_custom_puppet_function.rb
     # !"" provider
     # # !"" repository
     # # # $"" git.rb
     # $"" type
     # $"" repository.rb
     !"" manifests
     # !"" config.pp
     # !"" init.pp
     $"" templates
     $"" some_template.erb
     

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102. puppetfile
     

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103. Bundler for Puppet
     

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104. # Puppetfile
     forge 'http://forge.puppetlabs.com/'
     mod 'boxen', \
     :git => 'https://github.com/boxen/puppet-boxen.git'
     mod 'stdlib', '3.0.0'
     

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105. how do i get a
     boxen?
     

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106. Automate Everything
     

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107. boxen/boxen-web
     

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109. how do i use my
     boxen?
     

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110. command line tool
     

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111. $ boxen
     # Run it
     

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112. $ boxen --projects
     # List projects Boxen knows about
     

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113. $ boxen
     # Sets up
     

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114. project manifests
     

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115. I want to hack on my project
     boxen-web
     

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116. # modules/projects/manifests/boxen-
     web.pp
     class projects::boxen-web {
     boxen::project { 'boxen-web':
     nginx => true,
     postgresql => true,
     ruby => '1.9.3',
     source => 'boxen/boxen-web'
     }
     }
     

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117. $ boxen boxen-web
     

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118. cloned repo
     nginx vhost
     ruby version
     postgres databases
     .env file
     

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119. $ cd ~/src/boxen-web
     $ script/server
     $ open http://boxen-web.dev/
     

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120. personal manifests
     

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121. I want to install $X but only for me
     

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122. # modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp
     class people::wfarr {
     include minecraft
     }
     

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123. # modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp
     class people::wfarr {
     include zsh
     }
     

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124. # modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp
     class people::wfarr {
     case $::hostname {
     'bender': {
     include projects::all
     }
     'scruffy': {
     include projects::octostatus
     }
     default: {}
     }
     }
     

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125. # modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp
     class people::wfarr {
     git::config::global {
     'alias.st': value => 'status';
     'alias.ci': value => 'commit';
     'alias.co': value => 'checkout';
     'alias.di': value => 'diff';
     'alias.dc': value => 'diff --cached';
     'alias.lp': value => 'log -p';
     'color.ui': value => 'true';
     'user.name': value => 'Will Farrington';
     'user.email': value => 'wfarr@github.com';
     }
     }
     

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126. # modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp
     class people::wfarr {
     boxen::osx_defaults {
     'fast key repeat':
     ensure => present,
     domain => 'NSGlobalDomain',
     key => 'KeyRepeat',
     value => 0,
     user => $::boxen_user;
     'stop showing stupid popover':
     ensure => present,
     domain => 'NSGlobalDomain',
     key => 'ApplePressAndHoldEnabled',
     value => false,
     user => $::boxen_user;
     }
     }
     

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127. issues
     

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128. $ boxen
     Error: ZOMG at /opt/boxen/repo/
     modules/people/manifests/wfarr.pp:8
     on node scruffy.gateway.github.lan
     Sorry! Creating an issue on github/
     totally-a-madeup-repo-name.
     

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129. CODEZ
     

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130. CODEZ
     who failed
     

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131. CODEZ
     how long ago
     

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132. CODEZ machine
     

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133. CODEZ
     os version
     

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134. CODEZ shell
     

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135. CODEZ
     ref
     

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136. CODEZ
     compare view
     

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137. CODEZ
     git status
     

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138. CODEZ
     full command
     

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139. CODEZ
     full log
     

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140. I'll fix the error and run `boxen`
     

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141. CODEZ
     

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142. GitHub Issues API
     

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143. # config/boxen.rb
     ENV['BOXEN_REPO_NAME'] = \
     'github/github-boxen'
     ENV['BOXEN_ISSUES_ENABLED'] = 'yes'
     

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144. auto-update
     

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145. $ boxen
     # auto-updates cleanly and runs
     

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146. $ boxen
     Boxen has a dirty tree, won't auto-
     update!
     

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147. $ boxen
     Boxen has unpushed commits on
     master, won't auto-update!
     

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148. $ boxen
     Boxen on a non-master branch 'new-
     project', won't auto-update!
     

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149. i'm sold.
     

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150. cool.
     

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151. get started.
     

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152. make a boxen for your
     company
     

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153. make a boxen for your
     community
     

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154. make a boxen for your
     thing that uses
     computers
     

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156. what if i have
     problems?
     

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157. file issues on github
     

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158. irc.freenode.net
     

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159. 
     wfarr
     come work with me on
     things like boxen
     

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160. thanks
     

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161. speakerdeck.com/wfarr/boxen
     

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