How to make a path for a program?
 

Yo!

(this may have been posted twice, sorry, but I cant find the first post.)


How to make a path for a program? I have installed such a program as BRL-CAD, but cannot run it.

I have included some instruction, but I dont understand them fully.

Please advice a newbie.

-Tommi







Updating Your Search Path
Bourne Shell (/bin/sh)
If you are a Bourne Shell user (/bin/sh, generally the default shell on most systems), you will need to edit your ".profile" file, and modify the PATH variable to include the full path name of your "bin" directory (BINDIR). In the editor, look for a line that looks something like:
PATH=/usr/ucb:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin::

and add the path name of your "bin" directory after the equals ("=") sign. In this example, the new form would look like one of the two lines below; the first line is the example non-production form, and the second line is the production form.
PATH=/a/d/mike/bin:/usr/ucb:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin::

PATH=/usr/brlcad/bin:/usr/ucb:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin::

where the full path name for the "bin" directory has been added to the front of your PATH specification. Then, you must run:
. .profile

(dot space dot-profile) to have the Shell set up your new PATH specification.

I am kind of against adding files to my path. I usually just cd to the dir and issue
$./program_name