This was bugging me for years. I couldn't understand why I had to source ~/.bash_profile to get my path updated on some of my machines and not others. I thought I was doing everything right. Now I realize the problem was only with gnome-terminal -- there is a check-box that I wasn't setting correctly: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/do-i-put-path-in-bash_profile-or-bashrc-or-both-540288/ "You can [fix this] by opening a gnome-terminal window and going to Edit / Profiles - select the Default profile and click the Edit button. On the Title and Command tab, click the check box for Run command as a login shell. Your .bash_profile file should be sourced the next time you open a gnome-terminal." So ... you want "export PATH=..." to be in ~/.bash_profile, not in ~/.bash_rc, and you want gnome-terminal, if you're using it, to be starting as a login shell. Mike