Where exactly in .bashrc set PATH?

Question

At the end of .bashrc file I added these lines to set path to foo folder in my home directory:

PATH = $PATH:/home/username/foo
export PATH;

Then I typed in bash:

source .bashrc

These produced error:

bash: PATH: command not found

I am using Debian Squeeze. In a similar question here it was advised to modify /etc/login.defs. I don't want to do this as in the very login.defs it is written:

add the rest [of your paths] in the shell startup files

How to add folder foo to PATH in .bashrc?

Answer 1

You are using the wrong syntax. Drop the spaces:

export PATH=$PATH:/home/username/foo

Regarding /etc/login.defsor any other global configuration: Well, it is global configuration, so probably a bad idea to add paths within your $HOME directory there. ;)

Answer 2

Just use the following line in your .bashrc

export PATH=/home/username/foo:$PATH