which .profile is used

[David A. Bandel]

On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 21:30:21 -0400
begin  "Brian Witowski" <brianw at torchlake.com> spewed forth:

> After installing QT 3.0.3 I've noticed that when using vnc, if I open a
> shell on the linux box and do a 'set', my paths are not correct.  But if
> I go in through SSH from a Win box, the paths are correct, as set in
> /root/.profile.  Where is the shell in KDE picking up the settings from?
> 

vnc is opening a shell one level removed from a login shell.  That is,
when you look at your return from the `set` command, you'll see SHLVL=2 or
higher.  Login shells read $HOME/.profile.  If it's bash it reads
$HOME/.bash_profile.  If it's not a login shell (SHLVL>1), then the files
read include $HOME/.bashrc, but not any of the *profile files.  If you
want to have your environment look like a login shell, you'll either need
to have bash start as a login shell (bash --login), or have $HOME/.bashrc
source $HOME/.profile and/or $HOME/.bash_profile.

Ah yes, the elusive, "why do things work the way they do?".

Ciao,

David A. Bandel
-- 
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
		-- Nemesis Racing Team motto