~/.profile vs ~/.pam_environment

[Lars Nooden]

On Fri, 14 Jun 2013, Jonathan Marsden wrote:
> no "instead of" relationship between them.  I don't understand why you
> think there is.  /etc/environment (and ~/.pam_environment) will be used
> (via PAM) whether or not .profile exists for the user concerned.  One is
> executed by PAM, one is executed by a login shell.

It seems to be explained as an instead of situation in the wiki:
 
 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnvironmentVariables#Session-wide_environment_variables

So maybe that is in need of correction.

> If you configure things so both /etc/environment *and* ~/.profile affect
> the same variable, then ~/.profile is likely to "win", because (as far
> as I know) it is executed later than /etc/environment.  I would try to
> avoid relying on that ordering, though.
> 
> What you are describing about "/etc/environment takes effect if
> there is no .profile" is not how things are supposed to work.
>
> If you have a situation where the existence of a file ~/.profile
> suppresses the use of ~/.pam_environment at login, I need a clear
> description of "steps to reproduce" so I can look into it...

Both get used. 

Regards,
/Lars