On 12 Jun 2003 David Fokkema <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> On Thu, Jun 12, 2003 at 09:35:47AM -0400, Matthew Weier O'Phinney wrote: >>> -- David Fokkema <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote >>> (on Thursday, 12 June 2003, 01:10 PM +0200): >>> Yes, I searched through the archives and read some of the comments. >>> However, they don't tell me exactly what's going on... >>> >>> /etc/profile is read by a login shell, and not by starting an xterm. Of >>> course, so far, so good... However, when I log in to X, doesn't >>> xdm/kdm/gdm run a login shell which then starts xinit or something like >>> that? Apparantly not, because if I export a variable from /etc/profile, >>> I don't see it in X. What does xdm/kdm/gdm do then? >>> >>> So, how do I set a variable like CUPS_SERVER=nebula so that it is set >>> during a console login _and_ during an X login? >> >> Not sure what shell you're using, but in bash, I do the following: >> >> 1) In $HOME/.bashrc (this could be in the profile somewhere; I don't >> manage a large system), I set and export any environment variables I >> need in my login shell. >> >> 2) In $HOME/.bash_profile, I have the following lines at the top of the >> file: >> # Get the aliases and functions >> if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then >> . ~/.bashrc >> fi >> >> 3) In $HOME/.xsession (which is called by xdm, gdm, and kdm), I add the >> very same lines above at the top of that file, before any specific items >> needed for the xsession. >> >> Doing the above means I only need to change one file when I want to >> change my environment, and ensures that that environment is available >> whenever and whereever I'm working (login shell, non-login shell, and X >> session). > > Perhaps I should've been more specific (sorry, :-). What I'm wondering > about is _why_ /etc/profile is not read during an X login ....
I do not really *know* .... the designers of the X Window System and the graphical login managers *could* have decided to make the X server read /etc/profile at the start of every X session, but apparently they have deemed it more appropriate to leave it as an exercise for system administrators to make that happen, if desired. > .... and what file I need to edit to have a _system-wide_ variable > declaration. /etc/profile, IMO. Just make sure it is also read at the start of each X session by inserting a line to source /etc/profile into /etc/Xsession or into every user's .xsession. AFAIK there is no file in which to set environment variables that then would *automatically* be available in X sessions as well as in shells on virtual consoles. Ben -- B.F.M. Kal Anjelierstraat 1, 2014 TC Haarlem, Netherlands tel +31 23 5324909, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
