13.2 When to Alter Startup Files

Before making a change to a startup file, ask yourself whether you really should be making it. Here are some good reasons for changing startup files:

• You want to change the default prompt.
• You need to accommodate some critical locally installed software. (Consider using wrapper scripts first, though.)
• Your existing startup files are broken.

If everything in your Linux distribution works, be careful. Sometimes the default startup files interact with other files in /etc.

That said, you probably wouldn’t be reading this chapter if you weren’t interested in changing the defaults, so let’s examine what’s important.