After the system-wide initialization
file is read that sets system-wide defaults, the user initialization
files for the appropriate shell are read. The user initialization
files provide great flexibility to the user for customizing their
environment. Login initialization and customization can be
accomplished using the system-wide file /etc/profile by itself
or in combination with the user-specific initialization files.
Depending on the network administration policies, many custom settings
could be placed in the /etc/profile file. This would set them
automatically for all users, and they would not need user-specific
initialization files. Since users do not have permission to modify the
/etc/profile file, this would also prevent the users from
modifying the login initialization settings. The user initialization
files can be set up as templates by the system administrator, and then
modified by the user. The user-specific initialization file(s) are
stored in the home directory of the user. Depending on network
administration policy, user-specific initialization files can perform
all or part of the following:
- Set Default Prompt - As
described in Chapter 14
- Define Default Printer -
Provides access to local printer
- Set Default Permissions - Set
umask for new files and directories
- Set Default Terminal Type -
Used by vi and other tools
- Set New Mail Location - Tells
the shell where to look for new mail
- Set noclobber - Prevent
overwriting of files during redirection
- Set Command Path - Defines
directories to look in for executable files
- Define Custom Commands -
Defines user command aliases as described in Chapter 14
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