Disclaimer: the title is slightly hyperbolic, there are other proven solutions to the problem. I do think the technique below is very elegant though.
Recently I read about this amazing technique in an [Hacker News thread][1] on people's solutions to store their [dotfiles][2]. User StreakyCobra [showed his elegant setup][3] and ... It made so much sense! I am in the process of switching my own system to the same technique. The only pre-requisite is to install [Git][4].
In his words the technique below requires: