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From: guy%gorodish@Sun.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Strange reaction to wierd file mode
Message-ID: <26027@sun.uucp>
Date: Wed, 19-Aug-87 14:57:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.26027
Posted: Wed Aug 19 14:57:31 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Aug-87 04:23:08 EDT
References: <719@csun.UUCP>
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Lines: 21
Keywords: chmod open creat write error bug-p

> While playing with an AT&T SystemV 2.0 Unix, I made a little file
> with access mode 0446 (r--r--rw-), and tried to write into it.
> Surprise!  The kernal said I couldn't.  I understand what it's doing,
> but what I want to know is if the rest of the world considers this a bug, a
> feature, or something which doesn't matter.

I consider it to be, at worst, something that doesn't matter, and at best a
feature.  The only reason why you'd *want* to give a file modes like that is,
presumably, that you really *do* want to permit people not the owner of the
file and not in the group that owns the file to write it, but to forbid the
owner and people in the group that owns it to write it.  It's not really the
system's job to say "that doesn't make sense" and override your judgement.

> (A friend suggested putting code in the kernal for creat, chmod, etc. so
> that this type of mode wouldn't happen;  I disagree about this type of
> kludge.)

Yes.  Again, it shouldn't be the system's job to enforce policy.
	Guy Harris
	{ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy
	guy@sun.com