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Diffstat (limited to 'chapter07/profile.xml')
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1 files changed, 82 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/chapter07/profile.xml b/chapter07/profile.xml index d60d64d67..fa1b1a232 100644 --- a/chapter07/profile.xml +++ b/chapter07/profile.xml @@ -7,8 +7,74 @@ <title>The Bash Shell Startup Files</title> <?dbhtml filename="profile.html"?> +<indexterm zone="ch-scripts-profile"><primary sortas="e-/etc/profile">/etc/profile</primary></indexterm> -<para>Create the <filename>/etc/profile</filename> file:</para> +<para>The shell program <command>/bin/bash</command> (hereafter +referred to as <quote>the shell</quote>) uses a collection of startup +files to help create an environment to run in. Each file has a +specific use and may effect login and interactive environments +differently. The files in the <filename +class="directory">/etc</filename> directory provide global settings. +If an equivalent file exists in the home directory, it may override +the global settings.</para> + +<para>An interactive login shell is started after a successful login, +using <command>/bin/login</command>, by reading the +<filename>/etc/passwd</filename> file. An interactive non-login shell +is started at the command-line (e.g., +<prompt>[prompt]$</prompt><command>/bin/bash</command>). A +non-interactive shell is usually present when a shell script is +running. It is non-interactive because it is processing a script and +not waiting for user input between commands.</para> + +<para>For more information, see <command>info bash</command> - Nodes: +Bash Startup Files and Interactive Shells.</para> + +<para>The files <filename>/etc/profile</filename> and +<filename>~/.bash_profile</filename> are read when the shell is +invoked as an interactive login shell.</para> + +<para>A base <filename>/etc/profile</filename> below sets some +environment variables necessary for native language support. Setting +them properly results in:</para> + +<itemizedlist> +<listitem><para>The output of programs translated into the native +language</para></listitem> +<listitem><para>Correct classification of characters into letters, +digits and other classes. This is necessary for Bash to properly +accept non-ASCII characters in command lines in non-English +locales</para></listitem> +<listitem><para>The correct alphabetical sorting order for the +country</para></listitem> +<listitem><para>Appropriate default paper size</para></listitem> +<listitem><para>Correct formatting of monetary, time, and date +values</para></listitem> +</itemizedlist> + +<para>This script also sets the <envar>INPUTRC</envar> +environment variable that makes <application>Bash</application> and +<application>Readline</application> use the +<filename>/etc/inputrc</filename> file created earlier.</para> + +<para>Replace <replaceable>[ll]</replaceable> below with the +two-letter code for the desired language (e.g., <quote>en</quote>) and +<replaceable>[CC]</replaceable> with the two-letter code for the +appropriate country (e.g., <quote>GB</quote>). It may also be +necessary to specify (and this is actually the preferred form) the +character encoding (e.g. <quote>iso8859-1</quote>) after a dot (so +that the result is <quote>en_GB.iso8859-1</quote>). Issue the +following command for more information:</para> + +<screen><userinput>man 3 setlocale</userinput></screen> + +<para>The list of all locales supported by Glibc can be obtained by running +the following command:</para> + +<screen><userinput>locale -a</userinput></screen> + +<para>Once the proper locale settings have been determined, create the +<filename>/etc/profile</filename> file:</para> <screen><userinput>cat > /etc/profile << "EOF" <literal># Begin /etc/profile @@ -20,4 +86,19 @@ export INPUTRC=/etc/inputrc # End /etc/profile</literal> EOF</userinput></screen> +<note><para>The <quote>C</quote> (default) and <quote>en_US</quote> +(the recommended one for United States English users) locales are +different.</para></note> + +<para>Setting the keyboard layout, screen font, and +locale-related environment variables are the only internationalization +steps needed to support locales that use ordinary single-byte +encodings and left-to-right writing direction. More complex cases +(including UTF-8 based locales) require additional steps and +additional patches because many applications tend to not work properly +under such conditions. These steps and patches are not included in +the LFS book and such locales are not supported by LFS in any +way.</para> + </sect1> + |