On Wed, 1 Oct 1997, Peter Iannarelli wrote: : Paul Miller wrote: : > : > I know this is a really stupid question.. but what is the sticky bit? : > : > -Paul : : The sticky bit allows a UID to be the owner of a file while : that file is being accessed by that user. In essence if a user : opens a file, that user will be the owner of that file until : it is closed. After closing, the file goes back to its original : state. : : **** I THINK **** : : : Peter
The "sticky bit" came into existence when memory sizes were quite small and swapping was _very_ common. Some programs were used frequently enough (eg. vi) that swapping thjose programs out was clearly undesirable. The sticky bit was coded to indicate to the OS that the program should remain (or "stick") in memory. Currently, the sticky bit is most frequently used as a directory permission. Normally, if a user has write permission to a directory, they may delete any file within that directory. Note that the user does not have to have write permissions to the _file_, nor do they need to be the owner. This is undesireable behavior for a directory such as /tmp. When the sticky bit is set for a directory, a user may delete files he owns. He may not delete files belonging to others. This prevents a user from causing havoc with, say, another users editor sessions. HTH, -- Nathan Norman MidcoNet 410 South Phillips Avenue Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Voice: (605) 334-4454 Fax: (605) 335-1173 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
