How to run a program without specifying the full path?

Question

How come when I type "rails", it won't work... but when I type "/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/rails" it will work? How do I bind it so that I don't have to type the full path everytime?

Answer 1

You need to edit your $PATH environmental variable.

For example, in your .bashrc:

export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin

Alternatively, you can use an alias, in your .bashrc:

alias rails=/var/lib/gems/1.8/bin/rails

Or you could even put the rails binary (or a symlink) to one of the directories listed in your $PATH. To see those directories, type echo $PATH.