Re: Proposal: restrict link(2)

Aaron M. Ucko (amu@mit.edu)
13 Dec 1996 11:02:36 -0500


Dan Merillat <Dan@merillat.org> writes:

> Would anything BREAK if we made link() depend on write access? And does
> POSIX require that ability?

POSIX is not entirely clear. From the 1996 edition of the spec:

} The implementation may require that the calling process has
} permission to access the existing file.

I'm pretty sure "access" means "read access," but I suppose one could
construe it to mean "write access."

However, I don't think the current implementation should be changed.
The real problem is buggy userspace programs; there may be a lot of
them, but they should still be fixed.

-- 
Aaron M. Ucko (amu@mit.edu) | For Geek Code, PGP public key, and other info,
finger amu@monk.mit.edu. | "Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous.
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