Re: x bit for dirs: misfeature?

David Ford
2001-11-19T17:17:25Z

>
>
>>I know. I'd like to hear anybody who have a directory with r!=x
>>on purpose (and quite curious on that purpose). UNIX gugus, anybody?
>>
>
>It's used to hide files in anonymous FTP for for one. It prevents you from
>retrieving files that you don't know the name of. Yes, a brute force attempt
>to open MAY work to find the unknown file, it will take a long time, and you
>are most likely to be detected. The anonymous FTP use is usually in an incoming
>directory - the files are put there from remote individuals, and are hidden
>(unless someone is a good guesser/or a poor name chosen) until the
>administrator examines/moves them.
>

I use it for more than just ftp. I chmod 710 ~ and have ~ in the
web/email groups. It stops prying eyes unless they know what the
filename is.

David