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Seemingly this is just as a cheap version of namespacing or something in the event something comes out that uses the same name as a name you chose, rather than

Seemingly this is just as a cheap version of namespacing or something in the event something comes out that uses the same name as a name you chose, rather than actually being about "overriding"? Because otherwise why not just do what I assume everyone else does, and put ~/bin before everything else on your PATH?

macintux 7y ago
As he pointed out, he’s also able to take advantage of tab completion this way, and he doesn’t risk getting the wrong command if his path is modified.
function_seven 7y ago
It’s to avoid collisions altogether, not to prioritize the custom commands over the standard ones. For example, let’s say I have a script that improves upon the systemctl command, and I want to use it all the time and not type a bunch of characters to invoke it. I might call it “sc”, forgetting that I also use the spreadsheet calculator sometimes. If I always prefix, then “,sc” is my shortcut, and “sc” is the spreadsheet calculator.
- JulianWasTaken 7y ago
  Got it thanks -- that's what I was calling "namespacing" then yeah. Not a problem I've ever had, but I guess I like the solution if it's one you do often. Thanks for confirming.
- kazinator 7y ago
  There isn't just the risk of a name clash between programs that you use. It's a hygiene problem: a clash that you don't know about, involving some program you don't use (or not directly). The system programs can potentially rely on each other, invoking each other in a way that relies on PATH searching, and not set PATH to a sane value when they are invoked. Your utility can accidentally shadow something and break the program whicc relies on it. In other words, setting PATH to point to ~/bin first breaks unhygienic programs which blindly inherit PATH --- which is pretty much all non-setuid programs in a Unix-like system! Setting PATH to point to your ~/bin last, on the other and, potentially breaks your programs when they call each other (in a way that relies on path searching), and are shadowed by new system programs. A fix for that is to to put ~/bin last, and ensure that all your programs refer to each other in a way that doesn't rely on PATH. E.g. prog is invoked as $bob_utils/prog.

macintux 7y ago

As he pointed out, he’s also able to take advantage of tab completion this way, and he doesn’t risk getting the wrong command if his path is modified.

function_seven 7y ago

It’s to avoid collisions altogether, not to prioritize the custom commands over the standard ones. For example, let’s say I have a script that improves upon the systemctl command, and I want to use it all the time and not type a bunch of characters to invoke it. I might call it “sc”, forgetting that I also use the spreadsheet calculator sometimes. If I always prefix, then “,sc” is my shortcut, and “sc” is the spreadsheet calculator.

JulianWasTaken 7y ago
Got it thanks -- that's what I was calling "namespacing" then yeah. Not a problem I've ever had, but I guess I like the solution if it's one you do often. Thanks for confirming.
kazinator 7y ago
There isn't just the risk of a name clash between programs that you use. It's a hygiene problem: a clash that you don't know about, involving some program you don't use (or not directly). The system programs can potentially rely on each other, invoking each other in a way that relies on PATH searching, and not set PATH to a sane value when they are invoked. Your utility can accidentally shadow something and break the program whicc relies on it. In other words, setting PATH to point to ~/bin first breaks unhygienic programs which blindly inherit PATH --- which is pretty much all non-setuid programs in a Unix-like system! Setting PATH to point to your ~/bin last, on the other and, potentially breaks your programs when they call each other (in a way that relies on path searching), and are shadowed by new system programs. A fix for that is to to put ~/bin last, and ensure that all your programs refer to each other in a way that doesn't rely on PATH. E.g. prog is invoked as $bob_utils/prog.