Here is what I have in my .bashrc file:
########################
## Variables for TeX ##
########################
BIBINPUTS="~/texmf/bib//:"
BSTINPUTS="~/texmf/bst//:"
TEXINPUTS=~/texmf/tex//:
export BIBINPUTS BSTINPUTS TEXINPUTS
This says, for example for style files, that look first in all
subdirectories of ~/texmf/tex, then in the places specified by the
TEXINPUTS* variables in texmf.cnf.
But setting only TEXINPUTS is enough for most people (for example,
.bst files are also searched in places specified by TEXINPUTS).
Mate
