PATH: The environment variable that contains the paths which are searched for commands when the full path to a command is not specified.

Here is an example of adding a path to PATH:

• export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin/

For security reasons, it is recommended that you never include "." (the current directory) on the path. It is a very common way for crackers to get you to execute a hacked command.

Because "." is usually not on the path, to execute a program in the pwd the command must be prefixed with "./" -- otherwise you get the "Command not found" message (or execute the wrong command if there is another program with the same name somewhere on the path).

See:

• http://www.libsdl.org/faq/FAQ-Linux.html

Contributors

• RandyKramer - 05 Feb 2002
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