On 9/23/06, d.maly@ieee.org <d_maly@charter.net> wrote:

Should be able to figure this out with a little homework, but can't!

Can't figure out where I define my "default paths." That is, if I check the properties of my 'Evolution' icon on my desktop, the Launcher gives this for the command: "evolution-2.6"

Presumably, the path for this application is defined in a list of 'default paths.' How do I change my default paths?

Here's how to find out. First, figure out what shell you're using with this cmd from a console or shell window: grep `whoami` /etc/passwd The rightmost executable is the shell you're using. Mine says /bin/bash. So next use this command, substituting your shell: man bash And search for "path" by using the '/' key. What you'll find is that the shell reads system wide default config files located in /etc and then reads config files in your home directory, if present, which can override the system wide settings. In bash, you could override the PATH environment variable by adding a line like this to your ~/.bash_profile file: PATH="$PATH:/my/custom/directory" to add /my/custom/directory to the search path. Note that I put it *after* the system default path. Putting non-standard directories before standard directories is a security risk because a non-priviledged user could put a malicious program in the non-standard directory and it would be found before a legitimate program of the same name in a standard directory. Hope this makes sense, BR