Set an environment variable

[Jorgen Grahn]

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 16:04:58 -0400, Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org> wrote:
> Jorgen Grahn <jgrahn-nntq at algonet.se> writes:
>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 07:42:19 -0700, Alex Martelli <aleaxit at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> Grant Edwards <grante at visi.com> wrote:
>>>> On 2005-10-24, Eric Brunel <eric_brunel at despammed.com> wrote:
>>>> >> The only think you can export an environment variable to is a
>>>> >> child process
>>>> > Well, you know that, and I know that too. From my experience,
>>>> > many people don't...
>>>> True.  Using Unix for 20+ years probably warps one's perception
>>>> of what's obvious and what isn't.
>>> This specific issue is identical in Windows, isn't it?  I do not know
>>> any OS which does have the concept of "environment variable" yet lets
>>> such variables be ``exported'' to anything but a child process.
>> AmigaDOS, if I recall correctly. Its "ENV:" drive/namespace is global, and
>> that's its closest thing to Unix environment variables.
>
> AmigaDOS had both global environment variables (using the ENV: device)
> and local environment variables, that worked like the Unix
> version.

As I recalled it, the latter type was shell-local and not accessible to
normal processes ...

> You manipulated them in a similar way in the shell, and they
> had a similar API for programmers: one call with a flag to indicate
> which you wanted.

... but if there were system calls to access them, I must have remembered
incorrecly. Possibly I was too stupid back then to find enviroment variables
very useful ;-)

> Of course, this is now 10+ year old memory, and I may not RC.

I think I remember /you/ though, from the Amiga newsgroups in the early
nineties. And now I feel old -- and offtopic.

/Jorgen

-- 
  // Jorgen Grahn <jgrahn@       Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu
\X/                algonet.se>   R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!