On Sat, Jan 04, 2014 at 04:08:17PM +0100, Suvayu Ali wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 04, 2014 at 10:37:48PM +1030, Tim wrote:
> > Frank Murphy:
> > > > 1: export TMPDIR=/var/tmp
> > > > 2: export TMPDIR=$TMPDIR:/var/tmp
> >
> > Suvayu Ali:
> > > Depends on what you want to do. If you want to overwrite the variable,
> > > use (1). If you want to add (prepend) to the variable, use (2).
> >
> > Wouldn't that actually be an append - add onto the end of the existing
> > variables, as opposed to insert before the existing variables (prepend).
>
> This would be append:
>
> 3: export TMPDIR=/var/tmp:$TMPDIR
>
> This is how I understand it; if a matching path is found, it is
> considered for the task at hand. So prepend (front) would mean "I want
> this to be considered before everything else", whereas append (back)
> would mean "I want this to be considered when everything else fails".
>
> The easiest example to see it in action is the PATH variable.
>
> Does that make sense?
No.
TMPDIR=/tmp
..
export TMPDIR=/var/tmp:$TMPDIR
TMPDIR now contains /var/tmp:/tmp and the new path (/var/tmp) is earlier
in the search than the existing value(s) and will be used in preference to
/tmp. So /var/tmp has been *pre*pended to the search path by any
definition I can think of.
--
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system
of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the
masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."
-- Dennis, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
--
users mailing list
users@lists.fedoraproject.org
To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct
Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
