[SOLVED] Re: X-Window/XTerm and environement variables

[Michelle Konzack <linux4michelle@freenet.de>]

Hello Developers and Contributors.

I have found the culpable one:	DASH !!!

I was wondering, WHY some of my programs/scripts do not more work,
even if I have "#!/bin/bash" in the first line...  first I was
thinking it is XTerm which eat my Environement...  No, it isnt.

Running 'pstree -Alpancu michelle.konzack |xmessage -file -' from
a button in fvwm give me

bash,3983
  `-startx,4171 /usr/X11R6/bin/startx
      `-xinit,4182 /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc -- /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc
          |-XFree86,4183,root -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp
          `-sh,4186 /home/michelle.konzack/.xsession
              |-ssh-agent,4214 /home/michelle.konzack/.xsession
              `-fvwm,4219
                  |-FvwmBacker,4220 9 6 /home/michelle.konzack/.fvwm//start/FvwmBacker 0 8
                  |-FvwmTaskBar,4221 11 6 /home/michelle.konzack/.fvwm//start/FvwmTaskBar 0 8
                  |-FvwmButtons,4222 13 6 /home/michelle.konzack/.fvwm//start/FvwmButtonsTop 0 8 ButtonsPanelTop
                  |-FvwmButtons,4223 15 6 /home/michelle.konzack/.fvwm//start/FvwmButtonsRight 0 8 ButtonsPanelRight
                  |-FvwmCommandS,4224 16 5 /home/michelle.konzack/.fvwm//config 0 8
                  |-FvwmButtons,4225 17 4 none 0 8 ButtonsBarTop
                  |-FvwmButtons,4227 19 4 none 0 8 ButtonsBarRight
                  |-FvwmPager,4228 21 4 none 0 8
                  |-xclock,4229 -analog -chime -update 1 -padding 2 -hands Black -highlight White -fg White -bg DeepSkyBlue
                  |-wmmount,4230 -- -s
                  |-wmmon,4231 -s
                  |-wmmixer,4232 -w
                  |-wmifs,4233 -i eth0
                  |-wmxmms,4234 --single --title
                  |-wmfsm,4235 --noblink
                  |-wmcpuload,4236 -bl -lc rgb:00/ff/ff -c 0 -i 1 -a 80 -w
                  |-xterm,4246 -geometry 80x35+290+100 -fn -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--18-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-15 -bg black -fg white -title mutt -name mutt-n
                  |   `-mutt,4247
                  |       `-mcedit,5994 /tmp/mutt-michelle1-1000-4247-13
                  |           `-mcusrpd6Bca,6030 /tmp/mc-michelle.konzack/mcusrpd6Bca
                  |               `-pstree,6031 -Alpancu michelle.konzack
                  `-xterm,6015 -geometry 94x29+0+150 -fn 10x20 -title Midnight\040Commander -name mc -n mc -e /usr/bin/mc
                      `-mc,6016
                          `-bash,6018 -rcfile .bashrc

which looks realy normal... but hold, PID 4186 is 'sh'
which is a symlink to dash.  Whenever I start a command
like 'Exec xterm' from within fvwm it invokes /bin/sh
which eat the environement...

Changeing the symlink back to 'bash' as under Woody my
whole environement is working again...

I can now use TMPDIR and MANPATH without any problems and
headstandings.

Maybe the $USER schould be informed of this behaviour...
or by installing DASH, debconf should inform the $USER,
that some programs will have some strange behaviour...

Or better, the X-Window-System should use the $SHELL
variable from the $USER, if started with 'startx'.

Greetings
    Michelle Konzack


Am 2006-04-09 16:14:11, schrieb Michelle Konzack:
> Dear X-Maintainers and X-Developers,
> 
> before I fill up the BTS I want to clarify some (security) problems
> on the list.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> 1st problem
> ===========
> Because I am working in a secured environement, XTerm break it,
> while droping the TEMPDIR variable which was set from /etc/profile,
> ~/.bash_login or ~/.xsession.
> 
> Generaly it is set using:
> 
>     mkdir -p      /tmp/$USER
>     chmod 700     /tmp/$USER
>     export TMPDIR=/tmp/$USER
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> 2nd problem
> ===========
> Then the Variable MANPATH is eaten by X-Window.  We are using
> heavyly private manpages from ~/man and using in the configs
> 
>     if test -z "$MANPATH" ; then export MANPATH=`manpath` ; fi
> 
> Under Woody it was working, but now under Sarge, I can not more read
> my private Manpages using xman.  Opening a XTerm, show me, that
> $MANPATH is droped.  Testing it with
> 
>     echo $MANPATH |xmessage -file -
> 
> from the "menu" system, a configured menu or a button in fvwm, give
> me an empty xmessage window.
> 
> Running a xterm and executing 'bash -l' and then the above command
> with xmessage show me the right MANPATH
> 
> /home/michelle.konzack/man:/usr/share/man:/usr/X11R6/man:/usr/local/man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> I think, running all the time 'xterm -e bash -l -c <command>' is NO
> solution to get the right environement.
> 
> Please note, that one of my colleague (at the french army) has
> allready DoS'ed me as he encountered, my "mutt" was not working
> inside the /tmp/$USER directory but in /tmp.
> 
> This two are the most anoying bugs under X-Window and Xterm.  I think,
> they should be corected before the new Release "Etch" coming out.
> 
> Greetings
>     Michelle Konzack
> 
------------------------- END OF REPLYED MESSAGE -------------------------



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