On Sat, Jan 04, 2014 at 04:08:17PM +0100, Suvayu Ali wrote: > On Sat, Jan 04, 2014 at 10:37:48PM +1030, Tim wrote: > > Frank Murphy: > > > > 1: export TMPDIR=/var/tmp > > > > 2: export TMPDIR=$TMPDIR:/var/tmp > > > > Suvayu Ali: > > > Depends on what you want to do. If you want to overwrite the variable, > > > use (1). If you want to add (prepend) to the variable, use (2). > > > > Wouldn't that actually be an append - add onto the end of the existing > > variables, as opposed to insert before the existing variables (prepend). > > This would be append: > > 3: export TMPDIR=/var/tmp:$TMPDIR > > This is how I understand it; if a matching path is found, it is > considered for the task at hand. So prepend (front) would mean "I want > this to be considered before everything else", whereas append (back) > would mean "I want this to be considered when everything else fails". > > The easiest example to see it in action is the PATH variable. > > Does that make sense? No. TMPDIR=/tmp .. export TMPDIR=/var/tmp:$TMPDIR TMPDIR now contains /var/tmp:/tmp and the new path (/var/tmp) is earlier in the search than the existing value(s) and will be used in preference to /tmp. So /var/tmp has been *pre*pended to the search path by any definition I can think of. -- "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." -- Dennis, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org