On Thu, Jun 08, 2000 at 12:37:52PM +0300, Sami Haahtinen wrote: > > umm.. i see what you mean.. i was a bit confused when i tried to configure > RH with the same way i configure my Debian. its impossible, all redhat is good for is making linux as obfuscated as WinNT... > the reason i keep them in /etc/profile, is that when i need to add an > alias, environment setting or anything.. i can change the whole system > at once.. no need to 'find /home -name .profile' and edit by hand. any root who runs around changing *MY* .profile files is going to to get a very swift kick in the ass. why should you be changing preferences for all users like this? i don't understand this at all. > why not use /etc/environment for the envirnment then? why to use > /etc/profile at all? /etc/profile is for setting system wide settings > if i host many beginners on my machine i do like to set the alias for > ls globally. also if i need to override some command with local command > i could use alias. setting up non-standard aliases for newbie users is doing them a disservice, what happens when they go to use a real *nix box? they will be totally lost, i learned *nix with a standardized setup and as a result can use Digital Unix, SunOS, Solaris, Linux, BSD etc encountering very few `gotchas' if a had learned `ll' instead of ls -l i would be screwed on all above mentioned systems. now that i know *nix i add some aliases like `ll' for my own convenience, but i still know how to use things the correct way. don't be like MS and try to `protect' your new users, instead teach them things as they are, keep thier knowledge `portable' ! > as i see it, some aliases, and commands are supposed to be in the system > wide settings. IMO a better way to add new system wide commands is /usr/local/bin no silly csh/zsh/sh/ash/bash/ksh incompatibilites to deal with that way. perhaps for SOME systems a way to modify all shells without editing all thier files may be a useful thing, i however think such a solution should be locally designed to work best there. adding a debian version of /etc/profile.d and the resulting packages fscking with everyones environment in screwy ways is a horrible idea. and yes i had several packages that when installed dropped crap in profile.d and the other hidden version (that i can't find) thus screwing up everyones environment, nearly imposssible to trace down. the road to hell is paved with good intentions. (BTW, how is editing 3 dozen files in /etc/profile.d any easier then editing the handful of shellrc files in /etc?) -- Ethan Benson http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/
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