Carl Wenrich wrote: > I just log into the box that appears on the standard ubuntu > startup. I enter my username and password, then the desktop comes > up.
You are using GDM (GNOME Display Manager) then. In which case it won't automatically start up shells as login shells. It is a quirk of how the X session is started. > I see now that the .bash_profile isn't being sourced (I thought it > was according to what I've been able to pick up on the web). If I > source it manually, the $PATH gets updated. It would be sourced if you were to log into your machine with ssh or the text console. > Why does ubuntu provide the .bash_profile when a user is created, > and then not source it when the system starts up? And since it > doesn't, what do I change to make it happen? That is a long story. If you are interested you can read some archeology that has been done on this problem at this following URL. Note that even though the bug has been closed that it isn't fixed. I am hoping to getting back to driving on it again one day. http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=250765 Red Hat's solution seems to be the best. But it would require you to patch your system files. I recommend creating a $HOME/.xsession file, making it executable, with the following contents. Make sure it is executable. #!/bin/bash --login exec x-session-manager # Debian specific generic alternative. #exec gnome-session #exec startkde #exec fvwm2 chmod a+x ~/.xsession This invokes bash as a login shell and then invokes the X session manager. x-session-manager is an "alternative" in Debian and will automatically track the best installed manager. But others may be selected explicitly. (I use fvwm. :-) This is off topic for the bash list. If you have further problems the Ubuntu user mailing list would probably be your best place for more help about how to configure your Ubuntu system. If you contact me offlist I would continue to help you if you have problems with setting up an ~/.xsession file. Bob
