Where does sys.path get initialized

[mmoum[no-spam-please]]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me where sys.path gets initialized?  I know that I can 
import sys and then execute sys.path.append(pathname), but I'd prefer 
not to have to do that everytime I use PythonWin or Idle.  I'm using 
Python on both Linux and Windows XP, and I suspect the process is 
different for each.

Thanks in advance,
Mike