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In the first part of this series on file permissions, I didn’t exactly get to the part about permissions.
Instead, I presented some details about users, groups, and file details that laid the groundwork for part two, which is today’s lesson.
This is when we actually get to explore the various aspects of file permissions that, when combined, allow the owner of a file (or root!) to be able to control access to it.
File permissions determine who has access to what, as well as how much access they have to it.
Such details are very important on a multi-user operating system such as Linux, for the sake of both security and management.
The possibilities are endless — and exciting to contemplate. Permissions can be widened so that files are able to be viewed and even edited by all users on a system (Warning: security nightmare!), or tightened so that not even the owner of a file can view it.