.bashrc

[Janina Sajka]

Hi, Dave:

First, I'm assuming bash is your assigned shell. Is this correct? To find 
out for sure do:

	grep -i [your.username] /etc/passwd

If your shell prompt is a $ sign (dollar sign), you're pretty likely in 
bash by default. That's usually the case these days.

Now, there are a chain of files involved in getting your environment set 
up. There are system wide setup files in /etc, namely /etc/bashrc and 
/etc/profile. Also, you have files in your home directory which set up 
your shell environment. They're hidden files so you don't see them with a 
simple ls. Instead do:

	ls .bash*

You'll probably see:

.bash_logout
.bashrc
.bash_profile
.bash_history
[

Briefly, here's what these are for:

.bash_logout -- as you might guess, these are commands executed when you 
logout with a Ctrl-d (or some such);

.bashrc -- These are settings exectued whenever you login, meaning you in 
particular, and not some other username. These are executed whether you 
login locally on a console, or over the Internet perhaps using ssh;
 
.bash_profile -- These commands are executed only when you log in on a 
local console;

.bash_history -- This is a cache of commands you've given to the system. 
This is how bash knows what commands you gave the last time you logged in. 
These are what you see when you use the up and down arrows;

Lastly, let me say that bash has a lot of wonderful features to offer. 
Bash scripts, for example, are even more powerful and capable than the 
batch programming language in DOS. To learn about bash, look for the 
Bash Prompt HOWTO available at:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html

 [
 On Sat, 2 Feb 2002, Richard Wells wrote:

> So do I need to create a file in my user directory called .profile or profile to put the configurations I want into? There is still a lot I don't understand about this stuff yet.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dave Hunt" <wx1g at mediaone.net>
> To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 2:59 PM
> Subject: Re: .bashrc
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> You could put "source .bashrc" in your account's ".profile".  Better., I 
> think, is to put those commands you want executed at login by the user in 
> question directly into her/his ".profile".  A user's ".bashrc" is for 
> shells launched after login, e. g. by "screen".
> 
> -Dave
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org