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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!randvax!urban
From: urban@randvax.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: chown (was: at files and permissions)
Message-ID: <2123@randvax.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jul 89 15:18:39 GMT
References: <1894@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> <669@lzaz.ATT.COM> <8072@bsu-cs.bsu.edu> <4884@ficc.uu.net> <18414@mimsy.UUCP> <22969@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Reply-To: urban@rand-unix.UUCP (Mike Urban)
Distribution: na
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica, Ca.
Lines: 24

In article <22969@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) writes:
>->>... BSD allows only root to change file ownership.  (bogus?)
>-
>There are also many potential problems from hostile users (generally
>undergraduates) --- consuming someone else's quota can break their
>running program, make them miss an assignment deadline, etc.  Putting
>obscene or incriminating material in someone else's file system and then
>"turning them in" can do some real *major* damage.
>

There are also many installations that attempt to do cost recovery (or
some bureaucratic imitation thereof) by charging users for disk space.
Allowing users to give away their large and expensive files to other
accounts complicates matters considerably.

Not knowing about SysV's ability to give away files can lead to 
unpleasant surprises on some machines when creating a directory
using  tar  and discovering that the resulting files belong to
someone else.

-- 

	Mike Urban
	urban@rand.ORG