> Can you explain briefly why my Hurd installation would appear to work > Just Fine, even though `$(default-pager)' only appears in comments? Luck. It should in theory work to have no default pager (though that means you cannot use `swapon' at run time either), but there are likely some quirky assumptions being broken by that, and Thomas and I will be Completely Unsurprised if trying to run without a default pager screws up and/or dies in weird ways.