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Re: .bash_profile, the empty /etc/skel, and the first user



[ Please don't Cc: me when replying to my message on a mailing list. ]

Santiago Vila Doncel:
> Ok, Lars. I think you win, 

[ Sounds of beating on chest, victorious screams, screams of pain, coughing,
  some beeps from the phone, and a timid "May <cough> I have <cough> the 
  doctor <cough>, please." ]

> Suggestion for the bash mantainer: Add this lines to /etc/profile.

Instead of putting these in /etc/profile, I think it might be better
to write a document on localization of the Debian system. Something
that isn't specific to any particular shell, preferably.

Since /etc/profile is a configuration file, and will almost certainly
be modified on a any non-trivial installation, we should be very
careful about changing it. Changing configuration files causes pain
for people who upgrade. If we add some comments for locale and less
and the bash prompt, soon other packages will also want attention.
Since we already have /usr/doc/examples/<package> (or was it
/usr/doc/<package>/examples), it would be better to concentrate
the examples there (in addition to manual pages, etc, of course).

The installation manual could be expanded with a "Configuring and
localizing Debian" chapter, with general principles and specific
advice for the most common programs.

> * What about this in .bash_profile?
> 
> if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
>   source ~/.bashrc;
> fi

I'm not opposed to this, although this is precisely the kind of thing
that a user _should_ be able to prevent, since adding it _might_ break
someone's setup.

> * I have this in my .inputrc:

Does readline read a global inputrc? If not, shouldn't it?

-- 
Please read <http://www.iki.fi/liw/mail-to-lasu.html> before mailing me.
Please don't Cc: me when replying to my message on a mailing list.


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