Re: .bash_profile and xdm/KDE on Debian etch
On Thu, Oct 20, 2005 at 12:01:13AM +0100, Benjamin A'Lee wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-10-19 at 13:44 -0700, Scott Denlinger wrote:
> > is there
> > something about the way xdm or KDE starts which keeps it from sourcing a
> > .bash_profile file? How can I configure xdm or KDE to read in these files if
> > they don't?
>
> .bash_profile is only sourced for login shells; when you open an xterm
> in KDE or wherever, it's not a login shell so it's not sourced. If you
> start X from a shell, it's already sourced .bash_profile so the
> variables are inherited.
The graphical login should also start a login shell and then run the
processes implementing the "desktop" environment from there.
If it doesn't run from a login shell, or, at the very least, ensure that
all processes started by the user are run in an environment that
inherits from the user's login shell, that's a bug.
> If you want the variables set in all shells, not just login shells, set
> them in .bashrc.
That won't work properly for cases in which variables are "extended", as
this is frequently done with PATH.
Best regards, Jan
--
+- Jan T. Kim -------------------------------------------------------+
| email: jtk@cmp.uea.ac.uk |
| WWW: http://www.cmp.uea.ac.uk/people/jtk |
*-----=< hierarchical systems are for files, not for humans >=-----*
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