Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ctbilbo!ray
From: ray@ctbilbo.UUCP (Ray Ward)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.internals
Subject: Re: non-superuser chown(2)s considered harmful
Message-ID: <144@ctbilbo.UUCP>
Date: 14 Dec 90 00:17:14 GMT
References: <658@silence.princeton.nj.us> <110064@convex.convex.com> <110091@convex.convex.com>
Lines: 34

In article <110091@convex.convex.com>, tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) writes:
> Yes, but what happens where chown is not privileged?  
> 
>     % mkdir foo
>     % touch foo/bar
>     % chown somebody_else foo/bar foo
> 
> Now how do I get rid of that stuff?

There seems to be a theme ( sub-thread? fiber? ) on this thread that if
you can do something to a file that you can't undo without superuser
permissions, it is inherently bad, un-UNIX, Death-Star chic, or whatnot.

I disagree.  Consider the following:

		% rm -f foo/bar

Try getting the superuser to recover the file, on most systems.
It is possible to *actually* do things: permanent, irrecoverable, or
other definite types of things.  Even stupid or inconvenient things.

I have always considered this to be one of the beauties of UNIX:  it assumes
you know what you're doing, whether you do or not.  The software is assumed
to work:  it doesn't run off at the mouth telling you, "I made it this far,
so far, so good!" unless you ask it to.




-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ray Ward                                          Email:  uunet!ctbilbo!ray  
Voice:  (214) 991-8338x226, (800) 331-7032        Fax  :  (214) 991-8968     
=-=-=-=-  There _are_ simple answers, just no _easy_ ones. -- R.R. -=-=-=-=