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====Linux Environment PATH variable====

PATH defines a list of directories to search through when looking for a command to execute.

==Understanding the Path Variable==

As in DOS, the shell uses the PATH variable to locate a command. PATH contains a list of directories separated by colons ##:##

Entering ##echo $PATH## in Puppy 5.29 returns-

/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11R7/bin:/root/my-applications/bin

Thus binary/executable/script file in the following directory can be called by only its name-
/bin
/usr/bin
/sbin
/usr/sbin
/usr/local/bin
/usr/X11R7/bin
/root/my-applications/bin

For example, entering ##mp## starts mp text editor no need to specify ##/usr/bin/mp##

==Env==

The command ##env## will list all the Linux Environment variables.

To list a specific variable with the echo command, prefixing the variable name with a dollar sign. For example ##echo $PATH##

==Also see==
[[http://lowfatlinux.com/linux-environment-variables.html#ixzz1ldByhglm Lowfat Linux page]]