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The purpose of the setup files is to provide a means to add workspaces to the environment so the packages and tools they contain are available for use.
The setup file contained in /opt/ros/$DISTRO is associated to the corresponding ROS distro (in your case, Indigo Igloo). By sourcing it, the tools and packages included in the distro become available in the current environment and you can, for example:
-> Call any ROS tool included in the distro directly ("rostopic", for example) -> You can know build packages not included in your base distro because all the build tools and variables are part of the environment -> Any ROS tool you want to use (like rostopic) now can be used -> Some of the variables set are required for your node executables to work, including the essential "roscore"
The additional setup files are exactly the same, but each one is associated to its own workspace, which can contain any packages you want. This means that, after sourcing your base distro, you can then decide to add more workspaces to your current environment.
| | 2 | No.2 Revision |
The purpose of the setup files is to provide a means to add workspaces to the environment so the packages and tools they contain are available for use.
The setup file contained in /opt/ros/$DISTRO is associated to the corresponding ROS distro (in your case, Indigo Igloo). By sourcing it, the tools and packages included in the distro become available in the current environment and you can, for example:
-> Call any ROS tool included in the distro directly ("rostopic", for example) -> You can know build packages not included in your base distro because all the build tools and variables are part of the environment -> Any ROS tool you want to use (like rostopic) now can be used -> Some of the variables set are required for your node executables to work, including the essential "roscore"
The additional setup files are exactly the same, but each one is associated to its own workspace, which can contain any packages you want. This means that, after sourcing your base distro, you can then decide to add more workspaces to your current environment.
setup.bash inside your catkin_ws directory, all packages contained in it become available in the current environment on top of any other you had before. 
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