Q1. I understand that /usr/local/bin means I can install/uninstall stuff in here and have any chance of messing up my original system files or effecting any other users. I created this directory myself.
But what about the directory I didn't create, namely /Users/m/bin? How is that directory different and when should I use one over the other?
mbp:~ m$ ls /usr/local/bin
brew createuser ecpg git-shell initdb pg_controldata pg_resetxlog pgbench reindexdb vacuumlo
clusterdb dropdb git git-upload-archive oid2name pg_ctl pg_restore postgres uuid
createdb droplang git-cvsserver git-upload-pack pg_archivecleanup pg_dump pg_standby postmaster uuid-config
createlang dropuser git-receive-pack gitk pg_config pg_dumpall pg_upgrade psql vacuumdb
mbp:~ m$ ls /Users/m/bin
mate rvm rvm-auto-ruby rvm-exec rvm-installer rvm-prompt rvm-shell rvmsudo
Q2. Since "mate" (ie textmate) is not found when I try execute it, should I amend my .profile file to export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/Users/m/bin:$PATH? ...but in fact this is what got me asking question 1. That is, whats the use of this directory if I already have /usr/local/bin, shouldn't I have all this local bin stuff in one place rather?
mbp:~ m$ mate
-bash: mate: command not found
mbp:~ m$ cat ~/.profile
# NOTE: to reload this file: "source ~/.profile"
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
# ALIASES
ENV=~/.env
export ENV
. $ENV
# Load RVM into your shell sessions as a function (see http://beginrescueend.com/rvm/install/)
[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && . "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM function
mbp:~ m$ echo $PATH
/Users/m/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin:/Users/m/.rvm/gems/ruby-1.9.2-p180@global/bin:/Users/m/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/bin:
/Users/m/.rvm/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin
Thanks, Michelle