Re: xsrc/54851: .profile is not read by sh when using xdm or other login managers

[Robert Elz <kre%munnari.OZ.AU@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR xsrc/54851; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: Robert Elz <kre%munnari.OZ.AU@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost
Cc: 
Subject: Re: xsrc/54851: .profile is not read by sh when using xdm or other login managers
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2020 09:02:06 +0700

     Date:        Fri, 10 Jan 2020 22:15:00 +0000 (UTC)
     From:        coypu%sdf.org@localhost
     Message-ID:  <20200110221500.D64567A153%mollari.NetBSD.org@localhost>
 
   | Result: ifconfig and ping not in PATH, no tab completion...
 
 shells (all shells, not just /bin/sh) read .profile (or their equivalent)
 only when started as a login shell.
 
 Whatever starts the shell needs to make that happen, if the shell you're
 getting is in an xterm, then starting the xterm with the -ls option
 will cause it to start a login shell, rather than a normal one.
 
 I don't use xdm, but I believe it uses a .xsession file to decide what
 to start when you log in (or something like that), if you're starting
 xterms and want them to contain login shells, then add the -ls option
 to each xterm started.
 
 Alternatively, if all you care about is the PATH setting, then simply
 set PATH (and export it) in your .xsession.
 
 If you want command line editing, the best place to enable that is
 usually in your $ENV file, as that needs to be set for each shell
 started, login shell or not, just do it only for interactive shells:
 
 	case "$-" in
 	*i*)
 		set -V -o tabcomplete; # or whatever you want
 		;;
 	esac
 
 and export ENV (from either .profile, or .xsession, or both).
 
 There are many many different approaches to getting all this right,
 as what is "right" depends heavily upon the preferences of the user
 concerned.   No "one size fits all" is going to work for everyone,
 or for that matter, most likely more than a small subset of users.
 
 kre