The file ~/.bash_profile is read by bash when it is a login shell. That's what you get when you log in in text mode.

When you log in under X, the startup scripts are executed by /bin/sh. On Ubuntu and Mint, /bin/sh is dash, not bash. Dash and bash both have the same core features, but dash sticks to these core features in order to be fast and small whereas bash adds a lot of features at the cost of requiring more resources. It is common to use dash for scripts that don't need the extra features and bash for interactive use (though zsh has a lot of nicer features).

Most combinations of display manager (the program where you type your user name and password) and desktop environment read ~/.profile from the login scripts in /etc/X11/Xsession, /usr/bin/lightdm-session, /etc/gdm/Xsession or whichever is applicable. So put your environment variable definitions in ~/.profile. Make sure to use only syntax that dash supports.

So what should you put where?

• A good .bash_profile loads .profile, and loads .bashrc if the shell is interactive.

    . ~/.profile
    if [[ $- == *i* ]]; then . ~/.bashrc; fi
  

• In .profile, put environment variable definitions, and other session settings such as ulimit.

• In .bashrc, put bash interactive settings such as aliases, functions, completion, key bindings (that aren't in .inputrc), …

See also Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? and Alternative to .bashrc.

The file ~/.bash_profile is read by bash when it is a login shell. That's what you get when you log in in text mode.

When you log in under X, the startup scripts are executed by /bin/sh. On Ubuntu and Mint, /bin/sh is dash, not bash. Dash and bash both have the same core features, but dash sticks to these core features in order to be fast and small whereas bash adds a lot of features at the cost of requiring more resources. It is common to use dash for scripts that don't need the extra features and bash for interactive use (though zsh has a lot of nicer features).

Most combinations of display manager (the program where you type your user name and password) and desktop environment read ~/.profile from the login scripts in /etc/X11/Xsession, /usr/bin/lightdm-session, /etc/gdm/Xsession or whichever is applicable. So put your environment variable definitions in ~/.profile. Make sure to use only syntax that dash supports.

So what should you put where?

• A good .bash_profile loads .profile, and loads .bashrc if the shell is interactive.

    . ~/.profile
    if [[ $- == *i* ]]; then . ~/.bashrc; fi
  

• In .profile, put environment variable definitions, and other session settings such as ulimit.

• In .bashrc, put bash interactive settings such as aliases, functions, completion, key bindings (that aren't in .inputrc), …

See also Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? and Alternative to .bashrc.

The file ~/.bash_profile is read by bash when it is a login shell. That's what you get when you log in in text mode.

When you log in under X, the startup scripts are executed by /bin/sh. On Ubuntu and Mint, /bin/sh is dash, not bash. Dash and bash both have the same core features, but dash sticks to these core features in order to be fast and small whereas bash adds a lot of features at the cost of requiring more resources. It is common to use dash for scripts that don't need the extra features and bash for interactive use (though zsh has a lot of nicer features).

Most combinations of display manager (the program where you type your user name and password) and desktop environment read ~/.profile from the login scripts in /etc/X11/Xsession, /usr/bin/lightdm-session, /etc/gdm/Xsession or whichever is applicable. So put your environment variable definitions in ~/.profile. Make sure to use only syntax that dash supports.

See also Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? and Alternative to .bashrc.

The file ~/.bash_profile is read by bash when it is a login shell. That's what you get when you log in in text mode.

When you log in under X, the startup scripts are executed by /bin/sh. On Ubuntu and Mint, /bin/sh is dash, not bash. Dash and bash both have the same core features, but dash sticks to these core features in order to be fast and small whereas bash adds a lot of features at the cost of requiring more resources. It is common to use dash for scripts that don't need the extra features and bash for interactive use (though zsh has a lot of nicer features).

Most combinations of display manager (the program where you type your user name and password) and desktop environment read ~/.profile from the login scripts in /etc/X11/Xsession, /usr/bin/lightdm-session, /etc/gdm/Xsession or whichever is applicable. So put your environment variable definitions in ~/.profile. Make sure to use only syntax that dash supports.

So what should you put where?

• A good .bash_profile loads .profile, and loads .bashrc if the shell is interactive.

    . ~/.profile
    if [[ $- == *i* ]]; then . ~/.bashrc; fi
  

• In .profile, put environment variable definitions, and other session settings such as ulimit.

• In .bashrc, put bash interactive settings such as aliases, functions, completion, key bindings (that aren't in .inputrc), …

See also Difference between Login Shell and Non-Login Shell? and Alternative to .bashrc.