From: utzoo!decvax!duke!mcnc!unc!tim
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Title: How about VMS-style protection?
Article-I.D.: unc.4330
Posted: Mon Nov 29 14:23:50 1982
Received: Tue Nov 30 02:30:34 1982

Since everyone is suggesting impossible changes
in the UN*X protection system, I would like to put in
my two cents worth for separating writing from deleting.
VMS protection is a simple 4x4 arrangement: read, write,
execute, and delete for each of system, owner, group, world.
("System" includes such things as the mail utility.) I have
serious reservations about UN*X considering writing files
equivalent to deleting them. Sure, if you grab the thing with
a text editor, you can empty it if you have write protection,
regardless of delete, but in practice the two operations
tend to be rather different. In particular, it is nice
to be able to write a directory without being able to
delete it. Since unlink is a separate function from
create and write, this doesn't seem conceptually impossible
to implement.
					Tim Maroney
					unc!tim