Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!burl!codas!killer!wnp
From: wnp@killer.UUCP (Wolf Paul)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix
Subject: Re: More questions
Message-ID: <3140@killer.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jan 88 15:45:40 GMT
References: <1080@bc-cis.UUCP>
Reply-To: wnp@killer.UUCP (Wolf Paul)
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection BBS, Dallas, Tx
Lines: 24

In article <1080@bc-cis.UUCP> raanan@bc-cis.UUCP (Raanan Herrmann) writes:
>
>	1. I would like to clarify an old question that I posted once:
>
>	When you become a Super-User through the `su` command (NOT when
>you log in as root), PATH is set in a way that I don't like. Aparantly
>no .profile file is executed (defenitely not /.profile) and so I don't
>know how to make PATH be the way I want a soon as I become SU. Any body
>has any ideas? In berkely unix (the system that I know), the environment
>is taken from the current environment.

According to my System V documentation (and also according to my experience)
typing "su -" (to become root) or "su - name" (to become user 'name') will
cause the .profile for the appropriate user (root or named user) to be read.

It also causes the shell specified in /etc/passwd to be used, instead of
/bin/sh, thus if you prefer csh but don't want to mess with the normal
root account, you could set up an alternate account with the same UID and GID
as root, but called something like "sysop", and with /bin/csh in the passwd
entry. Then "su - sysop" will put you into a csh environment with root
privileges.

Wolf N. Paul
ihnp4!killer!dcs