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From: kdw1@sphinx.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: ls -l obscures important information
Message-ID: <1264@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Mar-87 11:43:16 EST
Article-I.D.: sphinx.1264
Posted: Thu Mar 12 11:43:16 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Mar-87 22:09:27 EST
References: <17803@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: kdw1@sphinx.UUCP (Keith Waclena)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Chicago, Graduate Library School
Lines: 33


In <17803@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> haynes@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Jim Haynes)
writes:

   I had a maddening problem in which a member of a group could not
   execute a program that was setgid to that group.  After some fuddling
   around I chmoded the program again and suddenly it worked.  Turned
   out that a mistake in a makefile had caused the program to be
   installed originally with mode 2701 - not executable by the group -
   but of course ls -l shows  rwx--s--x   as if all were well.

I don't know what version of Unix you're using (4.[23]?), but System V
(release 2.0 and higher)'s ls would have displayed a capital S in the 
example above to indicate that the execute permission was not set.  I quote
from the man page:

   The indications of set-ID and 1000 bits of the mode are capitalized
   (S and T respectively) if the corresponding execute permission is 
   *not* set.

(I.e., same trick for the sticky bit.)

This saved me from your experience once.  I set-uid a file, did an 
ls -l to check, and that capital S jumped out at me.  All I knew was
I had never seen *that* before, so I checked the manual and discovered
my mistake.

					Keith

-- 
Keith Waclena               BITNET:       xrtkdw1@uchimvs1.bitnet
University of Chicago         UUCP: ...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!kdw1
Graduate Library School   Internet:   keith@gargoyle.uchicago.edu