configure the .bash_profile

The default .bash_profile looks like this:
# ~/.bash_profile: executed by bash(1) for login shells.
# see /usr/share/doc/bash/examples/startup-files for examples.
# the files are located in the bash-doc package.

# the default umask is set in /etc/login.defs
#umask 022

# include .bashrc if it exists
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
    . ~/.bashrc
fi

# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d ~/bin ] ; then
    PATH=~/bin:"${PATH}"
fi

One way to get around your problem is to place your personal programs and commands in a directory named "bin" in you home directory.

That should work.

It is also more secure than putting the dot (.) in your search path as it is known security risk.

Make sure that your program is marked executable by doing a chmod u+x on it once you put it in the /home/your-user-name/bin directory.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck.

If these comments solved your problem, please consider updating the status of this ticket to "answered"

Thanks

Jim Jones

I have a similar problem, only mine is because .bash_profile doesn't get sourced when logging in through the X display manager. After logging in through X, opening a terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and executing 'env' at the command prompt, my environment as set-up in ~/.bash_profile is not set. If, however, I use Ctrl-Alt F1 to switch to a 'non-X' terminal screen, log in, and execute env my .bash_profile is sourced and my environment is set as expected. This behavior is different from the behavior of Fedora Core 4 from which I switched to Ubuntu.

Too many people are complaining about this behavior in Ubuntu. Please revert to the usual behavior, or if it's not possible for some reason then provide an alternative that is independent of the window manager.

Have you checked in the current profile of gnome-terminal the option "Run command as a login shell" ? If this is not enabled, I think ~/.bash_profile is not loaded.