Setting Paths For Programs

What is the linux equivalent to the old windows

c:\>set path=

command? I remember one could place a whole bunch of these in the autoexec.bat file to make programs faster in dos without having to change directories.

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The problem I am having with opensuse 10.1 is I am trying to use executables, scripts, and files and end up spending about 10-30 minutes trying to remember how I made it work the last time.

Example of my thought process in action based on what I am familiar with and what seems intuitive:

cytog@linux:~>ifconfig
Bash: ifconfig: command not found

At this point I want to search for the file from the console using the find command. After searching the internet for about 10 minutes I find something that explains this command better than the "man" document.

I learn that I have to use the "-name" argument. After trying to search for the name, I get a slew of access denied messages. I am running as a user instead of root because I am trying to get away from running as root all the time. It turns out, after 5 more minutes of searching, that I need to add the string "2>/dev/null" to get rid of these messages.

cytog@linux:~>find / -name ifconfig 2>/dev/null
/sbin/ifconfig
cytog@linux:~>cd /sbin
cytog@linux:/sbin>ifconfig
bash: ifconfig: command not found
cytog@linux:/sbin>/sbin/ifconfig

Finally! I know what my IP address is and I got ifconfig to run.

I wish I could just type "ifconfig" and have it work instead of "/sbin/ifconfig". Now I know ifconfig is a simple example but consider the case that I have a file down 6-7 directorys deep. To redo my example, I would rather type "coolwidget" and have my program work instead of needing to type "/home/cytog/Desktop/programstotry/graphics/CoolWidgetThingieSoft/bin/coolwidget".

What can I do to establish file paths?

You're just gonna have to use su to get to root if you want to avoid the long paths. Root has a different path allocation than ordinary users have, on purpose so things aren't too easy to call unconsciously

A quick way to get some useful commands in your path is to to symlink them to your own bin directory:

ln -s /sbin/ifconfig ~/bin/

ln -s /sbin/ifconfig ~/bin/[/b]

Perfect! Thank you.
That is just what I needed.

Is a symbolic link similar to a "window's shortcut"?