I can't change the PATH at gnome-shell level so I can execute programs in my ~/bin or ~/.local/bin folder from my .desktop files. I am able to easily define other variables through ~/.config/environment.d/envvars.conf e.g. TEXMFHOME. The problem is reported elsewhere and most recently on these pages:
- https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/i2ybvc/cant_change_path_in_environmentd5/
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gdm/-/issues/385
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gdm/-/commit/349e6af855a1c1dbee9af3e5881e00b66482d155
I have changed these files:
~/.bashrc : export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" ~/.config/environment.d/envvars.conf: PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH TEXMFHOME=$HOME/.texmf # this variable is available at gnome-shell level ~/.pam_environment PATH OVERRIDE=${HOME}/bin:${HOME}/.local/bin:${PATH} /etc/environment PATH=/home/farid/.local/bin:$PATH And at my bash prompt in gnome-terminal, I get:
~$ /usr/lib/systemd/user-environment-generators/30-systemd-environment-d-generator GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge:gail:atk-bridge QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1 PATH=/home/farid/.local/bin:/home/farid/.local/bin:/home/farid/.local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games PYTHONSTARTUP=/home/farid/.python_startup GCC_COLORS="error=01;31:warning=01;35:note=01;36:caret=01;32:locus=01:quote=01" VISUAL="vi EDITOR=vi SYSTEMD_EDITOR=vi" TEXMFHOME=/home/farid/.texmf TEXMFCNF=/home/farid/.texmf/web2c:/home/farid/.texmf/web2c: ~$ systemctl --user show-environment HOME=/home/farid LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=en_US:en LOGNAME=farid PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games SHELL=/bin/bash USER=farid XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1 PYTHONSTARTUP=/home/farid/.python_startup GCC_COLORS=$'error=01;31:warning=01;35:note=01;36:caret=01;32:locus=01:quote=01' VISUAL=vi TEXMFHOME=/home/farid/.texmf TEXMFCNF=/home/farid/.texmf/web2c: COLORTERM=truecolor DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus DESKTOP_SESSION=gnome DISPLAY=:0 EDITOR=vi GDMSESSION=gnome GDM_LANG=en_US.UTF-8 GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID=this-is-deprecated GNOME_TERMINAL_SCREEN=/org/gnome/Terminal/screen/64064a9f_0993_4156_8610_1df4e8733ddb GNOME_TERMINAL_SERVICE=:1.92 GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:0:1 GPG_TTY=/dev/pts/0 GROFF_NO_SGR=1 The TEXMFHOME variable set in ~/.config/environment.d/envvars.conf file is available to Gnome-shell but PATH seems to be overridden by some program. I am not sure if it's related to systemd or Gnome-shell, But in the reddit link I shared above, a person says the problem stems from Gnome-shell. I expect that when I press alt+f2 and type an executable name which is present in ~/.local/bin/ to be executed.
I reported the bug to Debian gnome-shell package maintainers as well: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1104035
If I press alt+f2 and execute sh -c 'echo "$PATH" > /tmp/path', then the content of /tmp/path is:
cat /tmp/path /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games If I press alt+f2 and execute sh -c 'echo "$TEXMFHOME" > /tmp/TEXMFHOME', which is defined in ~/.config/environment.d/envvars.conf, then:
cat /tmp/TEXMFHOME /home/farid/.texmf 
~/are relevant, and therefore the executable needs to be in~/.local/binof the gdm user, not yours. Where are you expecting this to work? Once you are logged in or in the GDM?sh -c 'echo "$PATH" > /tmp/path', run it, and then add the contents of/tmp/pathto the question.