Posted by: Administrator
on February 01, 2004 06:15 PM
There are two problems with permissions on Linux as I see it;
1. Many distros are programmed with the defaults that only root can do almost anything, so they wind up running as root because they don't know how to change it. The rules for permissions needs to be more predominantly showcased in the man pages.
2. Bugs! I've had the system revert to the default root-only for no apparent reason when I was in the middle of doing or using something. Easily fixed? Maybe, maybe not. When a bug crops up like this, changing the permissions might not help; the system may seem to think the permissions are changed back to the user, but the user quickly finds out otherwise.
The second scenario is the one that can be a great pain in the backside of a Linux-user. Unfortunately it's also low on the bug priority list for the developers. And the general assumption seems to be that you're not doing something right (which you may not be, as complicated as it can be). But even if you are doing everything right, if it's a bug, then you just have to hope they'll fix it... assuming they take the regular users like you seriously. There are a few who don't, although thankfully most seem to.
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Posted by: Administrator on February 01, 2004 06:15 PM1. Many distros are programmed with the defaults that only root can do almost anything, so they wind up running as root because they don't know how to change it. The rules for permissions needs to be more predominantly showcased in the man pages.
2. Bugs! I've had the system revert to the default root-only for no apparent reason when I was in the middle of doing or using something. Easily fixed? Maybe, maybe not. When a bug crops up like this, changing the permissions might not help; the system may seem to think the permissions are changed back to the user, but the user quickly finds out otherwise.
The second scenario is the one that can be a great pain in the backside of a Linux-user. Unfortunately it's also low on the bug priority list for the developers. And the general assumption seems to be that you're not doing something right (which you may not be, as complicated as it can be). But even if you are doing everything right, if it's a bug, then you just have to hope they'll fix it... assuming they take the regular users like you seriously. There are a few who don't, although thankfully most seem to.
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