~/bin not in default path (was Re: wrapper script issue)

[Ken Irving <fnkci@uaf.edu>]

Note: It would be best if you'd change the subject header when changing
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On Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 03:05:12PM -0700, ChadDavis wrote:
>     I think the Debian policy in this case would guide you only if what
>     you're doing is for all users of the system.  If you're doing this for
>     yourself, most UNIX/Linux users I know would create an alias or function
>     to do it, in their own work space (~/bin, ~/.aliases, etc).
> 
> I noticed that ~/bin is not on my PATH by default. Why does debian not
> do this? And is it a bad idea to add it to the PATH?

It's not necessarily good or bad, and it's up to you whether you want
it or not.  This has I think been discussed before on this list, and
I'm sure it's mentioned somewhere in the debian docs; it may be a faq.

I googled a bit, and one random response was (from Dave_L on a mepis
list):

  I think this would weaken security. It's easier for a malicious
  (or buggy) program or script to get planted in $HOME/bin than /bin,
  /usr/bin or another directory that's writable only by root.

A stupid example would be if you left your keyboard for a moment and some
ne'er do well typed a short but nasty command as ~/bin/ls, vs needing root
to do the same in /usr/bin/.  (Of course, there's no end to other mischief
they could do in such a case, but that's why it's a stupid example. ;-)

Ken

-- 
Ken Irving, fnkci+debianuser@uaf.edu