Linux

9.7    Access Control Lists and Extended Attributes

The Unix-typical administration of users and groups as well as the access rights for directories and files based on them have proven themselves for decades. The concept is so simple that it can be understood after only a few hours. However, there are cases where this simple system is insufficient.

For this reason, a more finely meshed system for managing access rights was developed, based on so-called access control lists (ACLs). ACLs make it possible to set up any number of rules for each file or directory as to which users and groups are allowed to read or modify the file or directory and who is not allowed to do so—in deviation from the Unix access rights. ACLs thus act in addition to the ...