ros_init.sh is a script that serves a little X based ROS environment. It has been created for chroot environments. So the idea is to allow multiple instances.

State: STABLE

• ROS, as logic
• X11
  • xterm
  • x-terminal-emulator (a.k.a your favourite terminal ;))
• Minimal bash commands

Instead of put source /opt/ros/<version>/setup.sh into your .bashrc or write it in each new terminal (you can avoid it in gnome-terminal with Ctrl+Shift+T), this alternative will run 'roscore' and a little xterm as a terminal launcher.

I'm using schroot and it automatically mounts my home. And, for an unattended start, I have added a little trap in my ~/.profile df -h 2>/dev/null || . ros_workspace/ros_init.sh A chroot environment can't handle df command, so it would fail. Therefore, it will load ROS in my chroots but won't do it in the host.

Note that schroot tries to cd to pwd first, and to HOME on fail (and finally to /). So, I use it on my favor:

• cd ~ && schroot -c chroot's name
  • This will invoke ros_init.sh
• cd / && schroot -c chroot's name
  • This won't invoke ros_init.sh

This is due to I source ./ros_init instead of ~/ros_init.