The /etc/environment is a valid place to put the proxy configuration since bash automatically runs it when it opens up. What you may have done is forget to put "export" at the beginning of the line where you set the proxy. Export tells bash to pass the variable to other programs, such as apt-get. Without it, the variable can only be used by the shell itself.
I know nothing of proxies and little of the apt-goodness.. I wonder if he can tunnel apt through ssh. :)
--
TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/
TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
