[buug] Managing Unix user environments?

[Stefan Lasiewski]

I'm looking for a recommendation on books or articles that have strategies
for managing Unix user environments. I have shell-scripting books, I have
system administration books, I have the man pages. None of them really cover
how a good environments can enhance user and group productivity. 

My last two jobs have crazy Unix environments. The developers type a dozen
commands to get a Java server working when I know the same thing can be
accomplished by placing with a handful of shell functions in /etc/bashrc.

Some people love zsh, others love bash. Then there will be the odd stickler
who insists on using ksh. Then there are the tcsh and csh folks, and then we
have the lovely OS-specific variants of certain shells.

I'd like to simplify the environment, remove the kruft, and create a
consistent and functional environment through the clever use of shared
aliases, functions and environment variables. While it's more difficult, I
want to allow people to continue to use bash or zsh.

I have questions like:

What dotfiles are shared between shells? Which files are only read by
interactive vs a login shell? When should .profile be used instead of
.bashrc? What's good and bad about using /etc/zshrc ?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

-= Stefan

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