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Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 09:46:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Alexander Viro <viro@math.psu.edu>
To: vda <vda@port.imtp.ilyichevsk.odessa.ua>
cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: x bit for dirs: misfeature?
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On Mon, 19 Nov 2001, vda wrote:

> Everytime I do 'chmod -R a+rX dir' and wonder are there
> any executables which I don't want to become world executable,
> I think "Whatta hell with this x bit meaning 'can browse'
> for dirs?! Who was that clever guy who invented that? Grrrr"
> 
> Isn't r sufficient? Can we deprecate x for dirs?
> I.e. make it a mirror of r: you set r, you see x set,
> you clear r, you see x cleared, set/clear x = nop?

See UNIX FAQ.  Ability to read != ability to lookup.

Trivial example: you have a directory with a bunch of subdirectories.
You want owners of subdirectories to see them.  You don't want them
to _know_ about other subdirectories.

--
BUGS
     There's no perm option for the naughty bits.
							BSD chmod(1)

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