Initial environment: /etc/skel

When the home directory for a new user is created, it is initialized with files from the /etc/skel  directory. The system administrator can create files in /etc/skel  that will provide a nice default environment for users. For example, he might create a /etc/skel/.profile  that sets the EDITOR environment variable to some editor that is friendly towards new users.

However, it is usually best to try to keep /etc/skel  as small as possible, since it will be next to impossible to update existing users' files. For example, if the name of the friendly editor changes, all existing users would have to edit their .profile . The system administrator could try to do it automatically, with a script, but that is almost certain going to break someone's file.

Whenever possible, it is better to put global configuration into global files, such as /etc/profile . This way it is possible to update it without breaking users' own setups.