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Re: If too many addresses in To:



On Thu, Nov 13, 2003 at 11:40:57PM -0800, Gary Johnson wrote:

> On 2003-11-14, David Yitzchak Cohen <lists+mutt_users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On Thu, Nov 13, 2003 at 04:59:31PM -0800, Gary Johnson wrote:
> > 
> > >     PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin
> > 
> > Just a little nitpick, but if you set it to $HOME/bin:$PATH (or even
> > better AFAIK, ~/bin:$PATH) instead, then you get the neat ability to
> > selectively override system-provided binaries, for instance with wrappers
> > to the real versions.
> 
> Good point.  I actually have my PATH set up the way you suggest for
> exactly that reason.  However, you then have to be more careful
> about the commands you put in ~/bin.  If you put a version of a
> command there that is incompatible with the standard version,

Don't do that, please!

> or if
> you inadvertently give a name to one of your own commands that is
> the same as some other command in the system,

...or that ;-)

> you can get unexpected
> behavior, especially when running other people's shell scripts.

recipe for fun, that's for sure!

> I've found that system administrators can get grumpy when you report
> a problem with one of their scripts that turns out to be due to a
> command in your own ~/bin.

Yeah, they have good reason to be upset.  After all, _they_ didn't put
~/bin in your path at all: God must not have intended for people to run
their own binaries ;-P

> Therefore, I don't recommend putting
> ~/bin early in your PATH unless you know what you're doing and are
> prepared to deal with the consequences.

In other words, use care and a fair amount of common sense in filling
your ~/bin directory (just as you would in filling any other binary
directory - even more so for one that's in your $PATH).  As somebody
else pointed out off-list, a prerequisite for the above is not letting
others write to ~/bin, for obvious reasons ;-)

 - Dave

-- 
Uncle Cosmo, why do they call this a word processor?
It's simple, Skyler.  You've seen what food processors do to food, right?

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