On Tue, 8 Jun 1999, Keith Brown wrote:
Some UNIX file systems (e.g. Solaris) support an ACL model that is quite distinct from NTFS ACLs (the ones I've read about extend the notion of the 3 sets of rwx perms "out further" into an arbitrary length list).
The length isn't so arbitrary. I think Solaris has a limit of 1024, but don't quote me on this. Actually one of my beefs is that since ACLs aren't standard on UNIX systems and NFS doesn't support them, they simply aren't used. Many people are so entrenched in the old ways of UNIX that they don't even know about Solaris supporting ACLs. I think user editable ACLs or security groups are generally a good thing allowing users to administer their data without help from administrators (giving them time to concentrate on tougher problems). I now get off my soap box.
If the planet standardizes on one of these protocols one day, the use of UNIX ACL security in NFS environments may become more widespread. Maybe...
It would be nice, as I think it really hinders the growth and evolution of UNIX. I am a firm believer that giving each user a "virtual machine" is the way to go. ACLs is one area of OSes that NT has and UNIX doesn't really.
Tom