HP-UX /etc/PATH

[Lutz Jaenicke]

On Thu, Aug 24, 2000 at 09:08:16AM -0700, Stuart Craig wrote:
> I added this patch because /etc/PATH is read by /etc/csh.login and
> /etc/profile, but neither of these get executed if you use ssh for
> remote command execution.  To see the difference, compare the path you
> see with "ssh <hp-host> env" with the path you see when you ssh to
> <hp-host> and then run env in an interactive shell.  It sounds like you
> have gotten around that problem by specifying a more complete default
> PATH to configure.  I didn't want to do it that way because I've got
> more than 80 HP systems with a very random mix of installed applications
> -- most of them have different system PATH settings.

Yes, I completely understand your problem. I have solved it by having a
synchronised /usr/local with its own /usr/local/etc/PATH.
You have your setup and your solution (it would be boring if everybody
would have the same problem and solve it the same way :-).

> I don't have a problem with modifying the patch to concatenate the two
> PATHs.  I almost did it that way in the first place.  The question is,
> do I put the compiled in default PATH first, or last?  I'm leaning
> towards first.

I also support to put the compiled in PATH first. The most important entry
in the default PATH I have specified is the path to the OpenSSH binaries,
so that e.g. an scp is found that does match the OpenSSH package used.

> Maybe what is really needed is a simple way, using configure, to specify
> one or more arbitrary files to read for PATH and other environment
> variable information.  You've got to admit that the current set of files
> that gets looked at, on various platforms, is pretty much a random
> jumble.

:-) That's one of the weakest points of the different UNIX incarnations.
A lot of things are more or less easy to port, but these questions are
a horror. I only have HP-UX and (SuSE-)Linux and there is no common
denominator on how to find out a good default PATH automatically.

Best regards,
	Lutz
-- 
Lutz Jaenicke                             Lutz.Jaenicke at aet.TU-Cottbus.DE
BTU Cottbus               http://www.aet.TU-Cottbus.DE/personen/jaenicke/
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