--- a/.bashrc	Sat Apr 11 05:58:03 2009 +0000
+++ b/.bashrc	Sat Apr 11 06:54:02 2009 +0000
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # .bashrc
 # This file is sourced for shells which are interactive but not a
 # login shell; however, since it is also sourced within
-# ~/.bash_profile, the end result is that this file is sourced for all
+# $HOME/.bash_profile, the end result is that this file is sourced for all
 # shells.
 
 
@@ -29,59 +29,64 @@
 # they're not they should probably go near the front of the pack.
 for P in /sbin /usr/sbin /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin \
     /opt/local/bin /opt/local/sbin ; do
-   [[ "$PATH" =~ $P ]] || \
+   [[ "$PATH" =~ "(^|:)$P($|:)" ]] || \
    export PATH=${P}${PATH:+:$PATH}
 done
 
 for M in /usr/local/share/man /usr/local/man /opt/local/share/man ; do
-   [[ "$MANPATH" =~ $M ]] || \
+   [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "(^|:)$M($|:)" ]] || \
    export MANPATH=${M}${MANPATH:+:$MANPATH}
 done
 
 # Local Perl install
-if [ -d ~/perl ]; then
-   [[ "$PERL5LIB" =~ ~/perl ]] || \
-   export PERL5LIB=~/perl${PERL5LIB:+:$PERL5LIB}
+if [ -d $HOME/perl ]; then
+   [[ "$PERL5LIB" =~ "(^|:)$HOME/perl($|:)" ]] || \
+   export PERL5LIB=$HOME/perl${PERL5LIB:+:$PERL5LIB}
 
-   if [ -d ~/perl/share/man ]; then
-      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ ~/perl/share/man ]] || \
-      export MANPATH=~/perl/share/man:${MANPATH:+$MANPATH}
+   if [ -d $HOME/perl/share/man ]; then
+      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "(^|:)$HOME/perl/share/man($|:)" ]] || \
+      export MANPATH=$HOME/perl/share/man:${MANPATH:+$MANPATH}
    fi
 
-   if [ -d ~/perl/bin ]; then
-      [[ "$PATH" =~ ~/perl/bin ]] || \
-      export PATH=~/perl/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}
+   if [ -d $HOME/perl/bin ]; then
+      [[ "$PATH" =~ "(^|:)$HOME/perl/bin($|:)" ]] || \
+      export PATH=$HOME/perl/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}
    fi
 fi
 
-# Local install paths - install things to ~/Installs directories, and
+# Local install paths - install things to $HOME/Installs directories, and
 # they will automatically get the proper paths added.  Most things
 # that use autoconf will do this with
-# './configure --prefix=~/Installs'
-for D in ~/Installs/* ; do
+# './configure --prefix=$HOME/Installs'
+for D in $HOME/Installs/* ; do
    if [ -d $D/bin ]; then 
-      [[ "$PATH" =~ "$D/bin" ]] || \
+      [[ "$PATH" =~ "(^|:)$D/bin($|:)" ]] || \
       export PATH=$D/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}
    fi
 
    if [ -d $D/share/man ]; then 
-      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "$D/share/man" ]] || \
+      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "(^|:)$D/share/man($|:)" ]] || \
       export MANPATH=$D/share/man:${MANPATH:+$MANPATH}
    fi
    
    if [ -d $D/man ]; then 
-      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "$D/man" ]] || \
+      [[ "$MANPATH" =~ "(^|:)$D/man($|:)" ]] || \
       export MANPATH=$D/man:${MANPATH:+$MANPATH}
    fi
    
    if [ -d $D/lib ]; then 
-      [[ "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" =~ "$D/lib" ]] || \
+      [[ "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" =~ "(^|:)$D/lib($|:)" ]] || \
       export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$D/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
    fi
 done
 
-# Now make sure ~/bin is top of the list
-if [ -d ~/bin ]; then
-   [[ "$PATH" =~ ~/bin ]] || \
-   export PATH=~/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}
+# Now make sure $HOME/bin is top of the list (or at least present)
+if [ -d $HOME/bin ]; then
+   [[ "$PATH" =~ "(^|:)$HOME/bin($|:)" ]] || \
+   export PATH=$HOME/bin${PATH:+:$PATH}
 fi
+
+# Last, make sure to end MANPATH with a ':' to force include of system paths
+# (some versions of man take care of this, but it doesn't hurt to have it
+# anyway)
+[[ "$MANPATH" =~ ":$" ]] || export MANPATH=$MANPATH: