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From: gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: system wide .login
Message-ID: <6072@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 6-Jul-87 16:56:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.6072
Posted: Mon Jul  6 16:56:00 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Jul-87 06:56:12 EDT
References: <8176@brl-adm.ARPA>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) )
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 14

In article <8176@brl-adm.ARPA> V2002A%TEMPLEVM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.EDU writes:
>a problem with the TERM variable being exported to the login shell and
>not to the users shell.

/etc/profile, as well as the user's .profile, is "sourced" by the login
Bourne shell, that is, it is processed IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LOGIN SHELL
and therefore affects its variables.  To make a shell variable "known"
to subshells, it must be EXPORTED (which puts it into the environment
of the login shell, so it is inherited by subprocesses).  For example:
	TERM=tty5620
	export TERM
or even
	TERM=tty5620 export TERM
(which makes use of a different "trick", even though it looks similar).