I didn't know I could set PKG_PATH to be the path *and* the 
command itself.

If I had seen that in a default install I wouldn't have known what 
it did, I expect, while this function is something I understand.

David S. wrote:

> 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.
> 
> 
> 
>