Many users, beginners and advanced are sometimes confused on how the PATH environment variable is handled on Linux. Why are there so many files .bash_profile, .bashrc,.profile , .bash_login ? In this short article, we will try to clear up this confusion and will also explain how to add a path to PATH on Linux as well as provide a glimpse inon the different files involved and the way the way are invoked.

Source: LXer – How is the path environment variable managed in Linux/Ubuntu/Debian?