Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!think!bloom-beacon!wesommer
From: wesommer@athena.mit.edu (Bill Sommerfeld)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Unexpected NFS Effects
Message-ID: <WESOMMER.89Jun29220044@bill-the-cat.athena.mit.edu>
Date: 30 Jun 89 02:00:44 GMT
References: <1703@softway.oz> <1602@munnari.oz.au>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Organization: /mit/wesommer/.organization
Lines: 26
In-reply-to: mwp@munnari's message of 21 Jun 89 02:19:46 GMT

In article <1602@munnari.oz.au> mwp@munnari (Michael Paddon) writes:

   The other point to remember is that NFS is a general protocol (not Unix
   specific). 

I find this hard to believe.  The documentation pays lip service to
this goal, but fall badly short of it in a number of places.  (That
line seems to be used as an excuse for not providing full UNIX
semantics).

*) The set of attributes associated with files corresponds exactly
(1:1) with the attributes used in UNIX, and there's no way to extend
the attributes passed around (that's not UNIX-specific?).

*) The protocol attempts to hide the fact that '/' is the path component
separator, except that '/' are passed "bare" in symlinks.

*) Access control must be inferred on the client from the
(UNIX-specific) file attributes provided by the server.  The server
gets to trump the client's decision, of course, but at that point it
may be too late.

There are others..

					- Bill
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