[plug] already existing file

[James Devenish]

In message <1057490311.2187.2007.camel at jlmpc>
on Sun, Jul 06, 2003 at 07:18:32PM +0800, Jon Miller wrote:
> Yes Ryan, you're on the bus. As I stated the application requires a
> file that is already on the system.  The application just isn't picking
> it up.  So my thought was to put the location of the file in the path
> statement and then try to install the application.

1/ If your application does not want to acknowledge some file, perhaps
   you have the wrong version of that file?

2/ Caution: "path statement" needs a great deal of explanation. Unless
   you meant "PATH environment variable", in which case things like
   "PATH" or "PATH variable" or "$PATH" would be okay. Your original
   message just said "the path" and most people will interpret that
   correctly (assuming you are actually talking about your PATH
   environment variable). But "path statement" is just confusing.

3/ Because you have combined "requires a file" with something about
   your PATH, you are implying that the file is an executable file.
   I don't know if it is true or not. But either way, you have
   coloured peoples ideas by putting those things together. For
   all we know, your application might actually require a library (in
   which case PATH is not the variable that will make a difference
   and we should be giving a different answer). It would be better to
   describe (a) what sort of application you are installing (better yet:
   name it!) (b) what sort of installation process are you using
   (give a description of the command-line or GUI process you are using)
   (c) describe any error messages (i.e. why on earth do you think your
   application requires some file?).

4/ No one can tell you whether modifying your PATH will be good, bad,
   or neutral because we don't know what application you are trying to
   install and we don't know what file it cannot find. It is actually
   impossible for us to know what the case will be. So from that aspect,
   your informed guess is probably as good as our blind guess.

> I'm only checking that by putting the location of the file in the path
> statement is okay.

5/ It is fine to experiment with your PATH. Disclaimer: I can't say with
   certainty that fiddling with your PATH won't cause your computer to
   explode, but I can say that UNIX/Linux admins would hardly ever have
   any qualms about changing PATH on a whim.