4 ms·

time /usr/libexec/path_helper PATH="/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/usr/local/share/python:/usr/local/sbin:/Users/stefan/bin"; expor

• telemachos 15y ago
  > Are you sure path_helper slows things down? I'm sure that it did, but not sure that it does. The code you ran isn't quite what /etc/profile does. Here's a run of that on an older machine where I work (see below on versions): $ time eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s` real 0m0.106s user 0m0.084s sys 0m0.021s However, looking at my current machine, I realize that /usr/libexec/path_helper is no longer a shell script at all. It's compiled. Running that same test on a newer machine, I get this: $ time eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s` real 0m0.004s user 0m0.001s sys 0m0.003s So, in a nutshell, I think you're right for current machines: The path_helper advice looks to be out of date. I can't edit my original answer any more, but thanks for making me rethink this (I've been annoyed by slow-opening terminals in OSX for years. Apparently, they worked on this part of the problem.)
  • n8gray 15y ago
    You're not crazy -- path_helper used to be godawful slow. It used to be a shell script with exponential (IIRC) time complexity in the number of components in your path. It could very easily add a huge delay to your launch time.