Re: PATH revisited: one PATH to "rule the [Debian] World"
On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 09:40:27AM -0500, Tom Browder wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 08:50 Tom Browder <tom.browder@gmail.com> wrote:
> ...
>
> > I think I need to have the program change all the path-affecting files
> > specified by Greg and others so that PATH includes both locations with the
> > new location coming before the original location.
> >
> ...
>
> And that all got me looking at 'adduser' and '/etc/skel' where I do not see
> an '.xsessionrc' file. Does it cause harm if one logs into a remote host
> regardless of its lack or presence of various graphics features?
/etc/skel contains a *very* minimal set of dot files. It doesn't include
any for customizing X sessions. Presumably most users just use their
desktop environment control panels, and never actually manage to change
environment variables like PATH.
The .xsessionrc file (as opposed to .xsession) is a Debian invention,
and is sourced at the start of any Debian X session, whether it's started
by startx, or a display manager. It's a great place to set variables
that need to be set for the duration of an X session. Of course, it
does nothing for console/ssh sessions.
I offer these caveats for dealing with .xsessionrc:
1) It's Debian-specific, so it does not help if your HOME directory is
shared by FreeBSD, Arch Linux, etc.
2) It may or may not do anything with Wayland. I simply don't know.
3) Its settings may be overridden by a desktop environment or WM.
4) Some desktop environments (GNOME being one) launch their terminals
via a convoluted mechanism which does NOT inherit its environment from
the X session. So, in these setups, variables set in .xsessionrc might
work in GUI apps, but not in terminals.
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