Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
1–10 of 77 posts
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#2I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc.
Edit: not sure why I'm getting downvoted. Is it that offensive to question orthodoxy?
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#3I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
Those multiple users could be used to implement sandboxing.
And of course if one has a family then one might want accounts for Mom, Dad, Alice and Bob.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#4The nicer things are suid a guid.
suid is to run things as another user without passwords. Mostly used for root access today and ignored for anything else. I personally think that's a missed oportunity when they added the unshare/namespace/capdrop stuff... would have been so nice if the interface to containers was a freaking simple 'suid as this lowly user' for a userland api. anyway.
and guid ON DIRECTORIES, are so that users can save files in a groups that then others can also update. So you can have `/srv/http/htdocs userA webmasters -rwxswx---`
then there's umask which may help or get in the way. and getfacl et al.
overall it's a mess that covers many usecases after you've been initiated.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#5I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
Of course, nowadays even more so, unless users want to expose $HOME to the world.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#6I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
User is useful for isolation, not just between system and user, but also between different bits of the system. This is more useful on a server running multiple different services, but desktop software often has multiple services as well (although I can’t think of an example right now).
Groups are a bit more niche IMO, but without groups there is no real other way to express the constraint of thing X uses file A,B, thing Y uses file B,C - how can they share the data without making things globally accessible or duplicating it. That’s probably a less frequent occurrence, but does come up (but again more on servers than desktop).
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#7I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
Those multiple users could be used to implement sandboxing. And of course if one has a family then one might want accounts for Mom, Dad, Alice and Bob.
The days of multiple family members using the same computer are long gone. Do you ever log into anyone else's desktop/laptop, or does anyone else ever log into yours? That's what I'm getting at.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those multiple users could be used to implement sandboxing. And of course if one has a family then one might want accounts for Mom, Dad, Alice and Bob.
The days of multiple family members using the same computer are long gone. Do you ever log into anyone else's desktop/laptop, or does anyone else ever log into yours? That's what I'm getting at.
Yes, actually. My wife occasionally logs into my desktop and vice versa. But I take your point - it's far less common than it used to be, even if it does still happen.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#9I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
Those multiple users could be used to implement sandboxing. And of course if one has a family then one might want accounts for Mom, Dad, Alice and Bob.
Depressingly i think sharing computers at least in the western world has become a thing of the past. At the very least, sharing your main form of computing.
Re: Unix file access rwx permissions are simple but tricky
#10I've been wondering about this for awhile. Do we really need multiple users for desktop unix? I get that you want some division between system and user, to protect the user against themselves. And read-only files are similarly useful, if only because some devices are read-only. But do we really need user/group/other permissions for desktop unix? and all the complexity of groups, and euid, etc. Edit: not sure why I'm…
It took me a shockingly long amount of time before I realized it was silly to have a username on my machines. I am the only person using this, why am I typing unnecessary cruft? Username switched to “a”, which ends up saving space in my home path and terminals.