Hello! I found this when I tried to use AUCTeX in GNU Emacs 23.0.90: its internal variable exec-path ("/usr/X11/bin" "/Users/pete/bin" "/usr/ bin" "/bin" "/usr/X11R6/bin" "/usr/local/sbin" "/usr/local/bin" "/sw/ bin" "/usr/local/bin" "/usr/texbin" "/Users/pete/bin/FDK/Tools/osx" "/ opt/local/bin" "/usr/X11R6/bin" "/sw/lib/emacs/22.3/powerpc-apple- darwin8.11.0"), derived from $PATH, which is reported with Emacs Lisp (getenv "PATH") as: "/usr/X11/bin:/Users/pete/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/ local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sw/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin:/Users/ pete/bin/FDK/Tools/osx:/opt/local/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin" and which is not the same as in ~/.xinitrc nor as in a shell, bash or tcsh. For the shells I use: ~/.bashrc:export PATH=$(defaults read "${HOME}/.MacOSX/environment" PATH) ~/.profile: PATH=`defaults read "${HOME}/.MacOSX/environment" PATH` ~/.cshrc: set path=(`defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment PATH | tr ':' ' '`) So I have, very consistent: pete 231 /\ echo $PATH /Users/pete/bin:/sw/lib/freetype219/bin:/sw/lib/fontconfig2/bin:/usr/ local/bin:/usr/local/ActivePerl-5.8/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/ universal-darwin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/lib/coreutils/ bin:/Developer/Tools:/Users/pete/bin/FDK/Tools/osx pete 232 /\ bash -li ~/.bash_profile ~/.bashrc 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 28 /\ echo $PATH /Users/pete/bin:/sw/lib/freetype219/bin:/sw/lib/fontconfig2/bin:/usr/ local/bin:/usr/local/ActivePerl-5.8/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/ universal-darwin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/lib/coreutils/ bin:/Developer/Tools 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 29 /\ exit logout pete 233 /\ bash -i ~/.bashrc 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 30 /\ echo $PATH /Users/pete/bin:/sw/lib/freetype219/bin:/sw/lib/fontconfig2/bin:/usr/ local/bin:/usr/local/ActivePerl-5.8/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/ universal-darwin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/lib/coreutils/ bin:/Developer/Tools 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 31 /\ exit exit pete 234 /\ bash ~/.bashrc 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 32 /\ echo $PATH /Users/pete/bin:/sw/lib/freetype219/bin:/sw/lib/fontconfig2/bin:/usr/ local/bin:/usr/local/ActivePerl-5.8/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/ universal-darwin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/lib/coreutils/ bin:/Developer/Tools 0-ttyp://pete:2/~pete 33 /\ exit from pete 235 /\ defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment PATH /Users/pete/bin:/sw/lib/freetype219/bin:/sw/lib/fontconfig2/bin:/usr/ local/bin:/usr/local/ActivePerl-5.8/bin:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/ universal-darwin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/sw/bin:/sw/lib/coreutils/ bin:/Developer/Tools In ~/.xinitrc I let record the environment (env | sort -o xinitrc.env). In this output file PATH is recorded as: PATH=/Users/pete/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/ usr/local/bin:/sw/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin:/Users/pete/bin/FDK/ Tools/osx:/opt/local/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin for which to find a connection to correct PATH is not easy. With this I can't use TeX! The file /etc/csh.login has from an installation of the "MacTeX" distribution an useless set path = ( ${path} "/usr/texbin" ) which will only work when I violate a bit the file system – I leave the line there for sentimental reasons. /etc/csh.cshrc does not set path. /etc/csh.login has only set path = ( ${path} "/usr/local/bin" ) set path = ( ${path} "/usr/texbin" ) /etc/profile has PATH="/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin" My personal files have: ~/.bashrc:export PATH=$(defaults read "${HOME}/.MacOSX/environment" PATH) ~/.cshrc: set path=(`defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment PATH | tr ':' ' '`) ~/.login:setenv PATH ${PATH}:"/Users/pete/bin/FDK/Tools/osx" ~/.profile: PATH=`defaults read "${HOME}/.MacOSX/environment" PATH` ~/.profile:export INFOPATH MANPATH PATH ~/.profile:PATH=${PATH}:"/Users/pete/bin/FDK/Tools/osx" I'd prefer here the behaviour of Apple's X11. -- Greetings Pete The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is the day they start selling vacuum cleaners. – Ernest Jan Plugge