Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!hc!beta!unm-la!unmvax!nmtsun!dieter
From: dieter@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Dieter Muller)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: using $HOME/RMAIL.lock as the movemail lock file
Message-ID: <276@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Date: 28 May 88 11:11:19 GMT
References: <11767@duke.cs.duke.edu> <14117@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <2779@geac.UUCP>
Reply-To: dieter@titan.UUCP (Dieter Muller)
Organization: New Mexico Tech, Socorro NM
Lines: 30

In article <2779@geac.UUCP> daveb@geac.UUCP (David Collier-Brown) writes:
>In article <11767@duke.cs.duke.edu> jwt@tupelo.cs.duke.edu (Jeffrey W. Tannehill) writes:
>| 
>| 	When using rmail in gnuemacs v18.51, movemail either uses
>| flock or it creates a lock file /usr/spool/mail/$USER.lock.  In
>| order to do the latter it has been suggested that movemail be
>| setuid or that it be setgid and /usr/spool/mail be group writable.
>
>    The two programs need write and delete privilege on that directory
>for the express purpose of creating /usr/spool/mail/$USER.lock.

Ok, so what's wrong with making /usr/spool/mail group "mail", and
making movemail setgid "mail"?  As long as no users get put into
that group, I don't see the problem about giving too much power.

I'm interested because I'm in the process of bringing up 18.51 right
now.  Our current solution (for 18.46), has been to make /usr/spool/mail
world-writable, with the sticky bit set.  Under SunOS 3.5, this means
only the owner of a file can diddle with it (mv, rm, etc., unless
of course you're root).  It almost seems like just having that sticky
bit would be enough, since the mail files themselves are owner-only
privs (0600).

Comments?

Dieter Muller
-- 
You want coherency, cogency, and literacy all in one posting?  Be real.
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