/etc/init.d in the default $PATH ?

[kodis at mail630.gsfc.nasa.gov]

On Sat, Jan 27, 2007 at 09:16:44PM -0600, Chris Adams wrote:

> Personally, I drop an extra script in /etc/profile.d that (among
> other things) adds /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin to the PATH of
> all users.  It doesn't really hurt anything.

I get a similar result by adding the sbin directories and my
$HOME/{s,}bin directories to my .profile.  This is something that I
can do even when I don't administer a machine, and lets me stay closer
to the stock configuration when I do.

Even though this type of $PATH extension seems like a frequently
requested feature that many of us have been putting in place on our
own with no ill effects for years, there does seem to be some
resistance to making this the default.

The only two reasons that I recall for maintaining the status quo are
that including sbin could confuse non-admins, and that including sbin
could interfere with the operation of the consolehelper program which
is used to fire off the system-config-* programs.  The first objection
doesn't seem very compelling, and the second seems like it could be
resolved without much difficulty.

-- John Kodis.