Proposal to let Emacs to properly capture $PATH on macOS .

[slb zetrov]

Hi,

 

I am totally new here, and I am sorry to propose something related to a non-free system.

 

On macOS, if the default Emacs build launched by click "Emacs.app" from Finder or Launchpad, the Emacs will not get the environment variables (i.e. $PATH and  $PYTHONPATH etc.)  

 

The direct result is that any package that invoke an eternal command cannot find the program (e.g. SLIME invoke a sbcl, AucTex invoke a pdflatex or invoke gcc/gdb/make directly).

 

The primary reason is that about 10 years ago the Apple disabled the "dot app" to get environment variables.

 

This also affect a lot of software in the past, including R Lang, Eclipse, here are some related discussions:  

1. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/51677/how-to-set-path-for-finder-launched-applications
2. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/829749/launch-mac-eclipse-with-environment-variables-set/36282543#36282543
3. https://github.com/eclipse/ice/issues/288
4. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48084679/why-do-which-and-sys-which-return-different-paths#comment83144504_48084679

The current solution for Emacs users is to install a completely avoidable and unnecessary package (exec-path-from-shell) https://github.com/purcell/exec-path-from-shell/

 

By properly (trickily)  including the $PATH, Emacs' users, especially new ones, will have improved user experience by eliminating the need to search "Why a package cannot find X executable" "Why the shell inside Emacs cannot find my programs" and waste time on install that unnecessary patchy package. Besides, the unnecessary complexity of exec-path-from-shel can also be avoided.

 

The most direct and simple solution is to use the existing shell (zsh or bash). This can be done by include a shell script inside the Emacs.app with something like this

 

#===================

#!/bin/shell script

source .zshrc and .bash_profile

execuate the Emacs binary inside the Emacs.app

#==================

 

However, there should be a better approach than this.

 

I want to make this simple patch and I think it is beneficial :)

 

Sincerely,

Zetrov J