[PLUG] Chmod question, before I mess things up

wcooley at nakedape.cc wcooley at nakedape.cc
Sun Dec 20 02:06:01 UTC 2009


>> I note that all my directories are executable. Perhaps there is a
>> reason for that. But there is a PDF that is executable. Why?
>
>    'Cause you cannot cd to that directory unless it's both writable and
> executable. I always forget the exact relationship, but either w or x lets
> you cd into the directory, the other allows you to list the files in
> there.

For a directory, only the 'x' bit is really unintuitive; the meanings of
the other usual permission bits are:
 o 'r' - List contents - read the contents of the directory file
 o 'w' - Create or delete files or links within the directory; that is,
write to the directory file
 o 'x' - Access the directory, including changing into it and opening
files with it in their path

And then there are POSIX or NFS4 ACLs...

Wil




More information about the PLUG mailing list