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From: jludwig@pinocchio.encore.com (Jim Ludwig)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Why does xterm use $SHELL if available and not /etc/passwd
Message-ID: <13442@encore.Encore.COM>
Date: 6 Dec 90 14:46:37 GMT
Sender: news@Encore.COM
Reply-To: jludwig@pinocchio.encore.com (Jim Ludwig)
Organization: Encore Computer Corp.
Lines: 18


xterm (X11R4 core dist) uses the SHELL environment variable to
determine which shell to run. It falls back on the password entry
shell if there is no SHELL environment variable set.

I'm curious as to the logic behind this. There's no mention of this
behavior in the man page.

The reason I'm asking, is that we have a make on our system which uses
SHELL to determine which shell to use. Since most Makefiles like to
use /bin/sh, you need to have SHELL set to /bin/sh. 

Any feelings on whether xterm should or shouldn't use the SHELL
variable over the /etc/passwd entry?

Jim Ludwig
Encore Computer Corp
jludwig@encore.com