> I found I kept needing to switch back and forth between installing 
> from pkgsrc and using pkg_add, which requires unsetting and 
> setting PKG_PATH. So I am trying this as a function in my .bashrc: 
> it will set my PKG_PATH variable, pass the command line argument t 
> the real pkg_add command, and then unset PKG_PATH again.
> 
> function pkgadd {
>          export 
> PKG_PATH=ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/1.5/i386/All
>          /usr/sbin/pkg_add $*
>          unset PKG_PATH
>          }
>

I'm not sure why you need to set and unset $PKG_ADD, but

	PKG_PATH=ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/1.5/i386/All /usr/sbin/pkg_add $*

will set the $PKG_PATH to the given value only in the environment of the 
"/usr/sbin/pkg_add *" process and its children, not in any other process
launched from the same shell.

David S.