[simpits-chat] Tech...

[Matt Bailey]

On Monday 24 February 2003 11:47, you wrote:
> >If you want to run a specific program, say one in the directory you're
> > >in, you use ./program - the "./" forces the shell to skip searching your
> > path for the program.
>
> See, that's a bass-ackwards way of doing things. The first thing done
> SHOULD be to look at the directory I'm in, THEN go to the search path if it
> can't find it. Sounds logical to me... I know that's what the problem is,
> as I mentioned we figured out eventually that there was another install
> hiding somewhere that I was completely unaware of. But it's just backwards,
> and without knowing about the other install there was really no way to tell
> right off the bat that thats what it was doing.
<snip>

	Actually it makes sense this way. If for instance you have a common program 
that you run a lot, you can simply type in its name and you don't have to 
worry about a file of the same name in your current directory running 
instead. If, OTOH, you want to run that particular file, just drop in the 
"./".
	Hey I am actually learning from this, I was not aware of exactly what all 
was going on with the "./" and why some programs needed it and others did not.

	-Matt Bailey