Strange path environment

path

Is it normal to have all this stuff in my path environment?

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin

It seems I have included the same path many times. I have installed and uninstalled Python 3.4 and Python 3.4.1 a few times because I am still having problems in making the IDLE work correctly due to Tcl/Tk libraries compatibility and stability problems with Mac OS X. Is this maybe the reason of having apparently the same path repeated?

Best Answer

The issue is how you have uninstalled python. Deleting the app does remove the code but does not affect anything you have changed elsewhere will not have been undone. In this case the changes to the path have not been undone and as the installer is a simple one it keeps adding the new bit of the path to the existing path.

To fix the path you need to find the file where the PATH environment variable is altered. If you are using the bash shell (the default in recent OSX) then. . ideally it should be ~/.bashrc but probably ~/.profile or ~/.bash_profile. See other questions or manuals on what startup file bash uses) Then edit this file so that you have only one Python in it, the lines changing PATH will begin export PATH=

In general things are uninstallable if only you know exactly what they changed in install and what they write to at run time. There is no generic way to do this. The best apps have uninstallers which will do the best. You can stop the app running by deleting the .app bundle and most configuration takes up little disk space so the cost of leaving it is not high. Also most .apps do not need edits in bash files so are more self contained.

Related Solutions

How to add a path to the PATH environment variable

echo 'export PATH=/my/path:$PATH' >> ~/.bash_profile should do the trick!

If you used echo 'export PATH=/my/path:$PATH' > ~/.bash_profile, or any such variation, you would be overwriting the contents of your profile!

Delete things from $PATH

If you just typed in the exports into the terminal as noted above then the variables in the environment will only last until you exit that terminal session. So simply typing exit and then reopening another terminal will remove any setting that you applied with the noted exports performed in your question.

export MAGICK_HOME="/Library/ImageMagick-6.7.5/"
export PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/bin:$PATH"
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/lib/"

Additionally you can un set variables from the environment by using the unset command.

For example:

unset MAGICK_HOME # will remove MAGICK_HOME from the environment.

You can do it for the others as well but if you do it for PATH you will lose your path setting until you close this terminal session and reopen a new window,etc.

As an experiment try typing:

env | grep MAGICK_HOME

You should see MAGICK_HOME=/Library/ImageMagick-6.7.5/ echoed back if its still in the environment. If its not then the settings have already been lost by a windows close. etc re-enter your export of MAGICK_HOME and try the above command again.

then

exit

and then finally re open a new terminal window and enter:

env | grep MAGICK_HOME

Your settings should be gone for MAGICK_HOME. The same is true for the modification done to all the other environment variables set with the export command right in a terminal session. They will just return to their default values if you have not set them in a start-up invocation file as required for your shell environment variables to have a more permanent place in your shell enviorment.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to add a path to the PATH environment variable

Delete things from $PATH

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