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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!cuae2!ltuxa!ttrdc!levy
From: levy@ttrdc.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.bugs.sys5
Subject: Re: mvdir, is or is not a bug?
Message-ID: <1488@ttrdc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 1-Feb-87 01:41:40 EST
Article-I.D.: ttrdc.1488
Posted: Sun Feb  1 01:41:40 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 3-Feb-87 06:44:19 EST
References: <376@oblio.UUCP> <1987Jan14.123035.20364@sq.uucp> <512@csun.UUCP> <402@yabbie.rmit.oz> <1952@ncoast.UUCP> <12301@sun.uucp>
Organization: AT&T, Computer Systems Division, Skokie, IL
Lines: 31

In article <12301@sun.uucp>, guy@gorodish.UUCP writes:
>[Somebody writes:]
>>I was under the impression that it was done for the same reason that rmdir
>>isn't part of rm.
>
>Nope.  "rmdir" and "rm" are both unprivileged commands...

Careful:  as of this time, for System V this is only true in Release 3.
Earlier releases had no rmdir() syscall; the rmdir program was setuid
root and checked for protections and that the directory was empty except
for . and .. , then used unlink() to delete the victim directory entries
for .  and .. , then the entry in the parent directory itself.
You did out point the SysVR3 restriction later in your posting, to be
fair, but it could be misleading to a reader who only sees the first part
of your posting, which looks like a categorical assertion that System V
per se (the rubric of this newsgroup) needs no privileges for rmdir.

$ uname -a
ttrdc ttrdc 2.0v3 0915 3B-20S
            ^^^^^ (N.B.: Release 2.0 Version 3.  Not Release 3.)

$ ls -l /bin/rmdir
-rwsr-xr-x   1 root     sys         8480 Oct 16  1983 /bin/rmdir
-- 
 -------------------------------    Disclaimer:  The views contained herein are
|            dan levy            |  my own and are not at all those of my em-
|         an engihacker @        |  ployer or the administrator of any computer
| at&t computer systems division |  upon which I may hack.
|        skokie, illinois        |
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