[ubuntu-uk] rsync chgrp problem - advice, please?

[Tony Arnold]

Neil,

Neil Greenwood wrote:

> I guess that the reason for the alternative is that some people can't
> cope with the octal notation (or maybe the octal notation was added as
> a shortcut later), but the chmod command is ancient (at least 25
> years), so I'm not sure.

My guess is that the octal notation came first and was in the original
Berkeley Unix of so many years ago.

The text notation also allows you to add and remove permissions, so for
example: u+w will add write permission for the user and leave all the
other bits of the permission as is. There is also - to take it away and
= to set the permission.

I think the man page to chmod explains it all.

Regards,
Tony.
-- 
Tony Arnold, IT Security Coordinator, University of Manchester,
IT Services Division, Kilburn Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL.
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E: tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk, H: http://www.man.ac.uk/Tony.Arnold