Path: utzoo!yunexus!ists!mike
From: mike@ists.ists.ca (Mike Clarkson)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Elm 2.1 PL1
Keywords: BSD, flock, lock mail file
Message-ID: <295@ists.ists.ca>
Date: 22 Dec 88 05:49:10 GMT
Article-I.D.: ists.295
References: <39@dsinc.UUCP> <6804@techunix.BITNET>
Sender: news@ists.ists.ca
Lines: 28

In article <6804@techunix.BITNET>, oved@techunix.BITNET (Oved Ben-Aroya) writes:
> I was *very* disappointed to see that Elm2.1 PL1 still needs write
> permission in the spool mail directory, for a lock file.  Maybe that's
> ok for system V, but 4.3 bsd unix uses the flock system call.  If your
> system is bsd, you can lose new mail, or the the mailbox may get corrupted:
> Elm thinks he can re-write the mbox, and so does sendmail...

That depends.

SunOS 3.5 uses lock files and requires write permissions to /usr/spool/mail.
SunOS 4,0 uses network wide locking.

Note that you can make elm sgid daemon and /usr/spool/mail owned by
group deamon to avoid giving elm suid privs on a Sun 3.5 system.

> I believe that long ago, someone said that he had done the needed work
> for bsd.  I was hoping this 'flock' stuff found it's way to the
> integrated new Elm version.

I'm sure it still does!

Mike.


Mike Clarkson					mike@ists.UUCP
Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science	mike@ists.ists.ca
York University, North York, Ontario,		uunet!mnetor!yunexus!ists!mike
CANADA M3J 1P3					+1 (416) 736-5611