I just switched to Gentoo (from Debian, FWIW) and have successfully installed basic console apps and rebooted. I then ran "emerge xfree" and compiled X windows, as described in the "Gentoo Linux Desktop Configuration Guide". However, I cannot run startx without including "/usr/X11R6/bin/" to my path. Is there a way this can be added automatically? Of course, if I log in to a new console, it will be in my path. But can it be added automatically so that after "emerge xfree" I can go about my business and run X apps without doing anything else?
you have to run `source /etc/profile` when environment variables are updated
Let me point out that I personally have resolved this issue (I know how to "source /etc/profile"), but that other people reading the "Gentoo Linux Desktop Configuration Guide" may not know how to. What I propose is that the ebuild script for xfree somehow alter the user's environment variables (although I'm not sure if a spawned process can do this) OR that the documentation be updated so that this is made clear.
You have to either: 1) source /etc/profile 2) log out and then in again to update the environment 3) reboot Its a known thing in unix like environments that after you changed /etc/profile or any other script that set environment at login time, that you have to either source, or log out and back in to update your environment. The other solution is to set all possible PATH's or what ever by default, but that is ugly IMHO.
