I'm really confused by bash, .bashrc, .bash_profile, .profile, etc, etc, etc

["Mark Wright" <mwright@pro-ns.net>]

Is there a good system for setting variables, aliases, etc that need to be
set for user X, whether I log in at a login prompt or using su?  I'm
confused by all the different .profile options (there are at least 3 for
bash, why is that?)

Mark.
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Mark Wright
mwright@pro-ns.net
mark_wright@datacard.com