
\S access permissions:  permissions:  mode:  owner:  group:  other:\S
   \Sread:  write:  execute \S

As the user of a UNIX system, you can decide who can read, write, and
execute the files and directories that you own.  You are usually the owner
of files and directories that you have created in your login directory and
in the "subdirectories"\S*\S in your login directory.  You may also own
files in other peoples' directories.  You control the use of your files and
directories by specifying the access permissions, also called the mode, for
each. You can  specify different access permissions for yourself, your
"group"\S*\S, and the other users of the system.  Permission to read
allows the user to read the contents of the file. Write permission allows
the user to change the file and execute permission enables the user to
execute the program within the file.

	     ls	-l

prints the access permissions for each file and directory in the current
directory.  The sample listing below shows the mode of the file (preceded
by a -), the number of "links"\S*\S, the "login"\S*\S name of the
owner, the "group ID"\S*\S, the size in characters, the date and time the
file was last modified, and the "file name"\S*\S.

	     -rwxrwl--x	 1 sandy  12345	 128  Oct  9  9:32  lock

If this were a listing for a directory, the hyphen (-) would be replaced by
the letter d.  The owner of the file "lock" can read, write and execute the
file, the group can read and write it, and record-locking is in effect for
this file. Other users can only execute the file.  Since record locking is in
effect, the read and write permissions for the group and the execute
permission for all others is meaningless.  Only the owner can use this
file.  You can change the mode of your files and directories by using the
change mode command, chmod(1).

\S*\S defined in the \Sglossary\S
