[SOLVED] Environment variable PATH on linux

Issue

Hi i am currently trying to set keywords for my terminal to launch some software without having to type the whole path.
For exemple:

firefox
#instead of
/home/debian/firefox/firefox

I always do this kind of thing on windows by setting path in the environment variable manager.
After i read this post PATH environment variable in linux , i added this line to the etc/environment file:

export firefox=/home/debian/firefox/firefox
#I also tried this:
export PATH=$PATH:/home/debian/firefox

It doesn't work, can someone explains me how to do this?

Solution

I would setup a new alias in my .bashrc or .profile, which should be located under your home directory. Add the following to the end of the file:

alias firefox="/home/debian/firefox/firefox"

Save the file and reload it using:

source ~/.bashrc

Since you added the alias to your .bashrc this alias will be created everytime you open a new instance of a shell.

You could use nohup to keep the command running after the shell session ends:

alias firefox="nohup /home/debian/firefox/firefox &"

Notice the trailing & character, which will run the command in the background so you can keep using your terminal.

Answered By - Cyclonecode