Help with Linux paths.....?

I will assume that you haven't changed shells, so you're using the bash shell by default. (Bash is the Linux default, so if you haven't changed anything since the initial installation, you're okay).

In your root directory, you'll find a (hidden) file called .bash_profile. If it's not there (it should be) just created it with an editor. Make sure you add the dot in front of the file name, as it needs to be hidden.

Add the following lines to .bash_profile

# User specific environment and startup programs

PATH=$PATH:/your/new/directory

export PATH

"/your/new/directory" is the location of the file you want to run.

If the file you want to run is in a directory inside your home directory, do this:

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/your/new/directory

export PATH

Then logout and log back on, and the directory should be in your path.

It depends on what shell you are using. For bash you would use e.g.:

export PATH=/opt/local/bin:$PATH

This inserts /opt/local/bin at the start of PATH.