Quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED] ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > When I telnet into Debian from another machine, I get the $PATH > variables which my .bash_profile states.
That's because you login with telnet so you get a login shell. > However, when I log into it directly, via XDM, and then turn on a > bash shell, Do you mean start an xterm. That's not a login shell. > I get the /etc/profile $PATH. . Moreover, if I log on from > another machine using - not telnet - but rather VNC, then I also get > the /etc/profile $PATH. The presumably that's not a login shell either. (I'm not familiar with vnc.) > (After the VNC login, I went back again to > telnet, where, once again, I got the .bash_profile $PATH) > > So this has something to do with XWindows. It has it's own startup files, like .xsession . Because each access method has it's own startup files, you can configure it to do just what you want. For example, you wouldn't want some massive startup file to be executed every time you ran a process remotely from another machine. My .bash_profile talks to me. I'm not sure where that would go if I logged on with xdm; xdm-errors maybe, not much use there. (I use startx.) Stick things you always want in .bashrc and then source it appropriately. However, if you're adding to your PATH, you need to be careful you put that in locations that only run once, like .bash_profile and/or .xsession. Cheers, -- Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 1908 653 739 Fax: +44 1908 655 151 Snail: David Wright, Earth Science Dept., Milton Keynes, England, MK7 6AA Disclaimer: These addresses are only for reaching me, and do not signify official stationery. Views expressed here are either my own or plagiarised.

