Re: (OT) path_helper [was Re: Xterm not reading dotfiles]
Re: (OT) path_helper [was Re: Xterm not reading dotfiles]
- Subject: Re: (OT) path_helper [was Re: Xterm not reading dotfiles]
- From: "Nathaniel Gray" <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:15:44 -0800
On Nov 18, 2007 11:17 AM, Ben Byer <email@hidden> wrote:
> On Nov 18, 2007, at 9:08 AM, Merton Campbell Crockett wrote:
> > As an aside, were /usr/libexec/path_helper to function as described
> > in the man pages, I would have little need for ~/.bash_profile or
> > ~/.profile other than to add the paths required to use MacPorts.
>
>
> That was the goal in creating that utility; if it does not behave how
> you would like it to (or even worse, how it's documented to work),
> please file a bug report with Apple so that we can fix it.
Funny that path_helper came up on this list. I noticed that zsh
shells opened in mrxvt under X took a fraction of a second to start
but those opened in Terminal.app took about 5 seconds. After much
digging, I found that the cause was path_helper. (mrxvt was opening
zsh as a non-login shell and thus not triggering path_helper.) The
regex it's using in line 18 is really really really slow. I replaced
it with this one and it runs in a snap:
[[ "$NEWPATH" = "@(${p}|${p}:*|*:${p}|*:${p}:*)" ]] && continue
I was also surprised to find path_helper setting the MANPATH, since
it's both unnecessary and counterproductive to do so. These days man
uses the configuration setup in /etc/man.conf to automatically work
out the proper man page for a given executable *unless* MANPATH is
set. So if MANPATH is set I have to remember to configure it in
addition to PATH instead of letting man just be smart about it.
I suppose I should just file the bug...
Cheers,
-n8
--
>>>-- Nathaniel Gray -- Caltech Computer Science ------>
>>>-- Mojave Project -- http://mojave.cs.caltech.edu -->
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