Purpose of the sticky bit for files?

[Angel Tsankov]

What is the purpose of the sticky bit for files in Unix-like OS's?

[Giovanni]

Post by Angel Tsankov
What is the purpose of the sticky bit for files in Unix-like OS's?

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/hp/hpux-faq/section-70.html

Ciao
Giovanni

[Angel Tsankov]

Post by Giovanni

Post by Angel Tsankov
What is the purpose of the sticky bit for files in Unix-like OS's?

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/hp/hpux-faq/section-70.html

Thanks a lot!

[Dungeon Dave]

Post by Angel Tsankov
What is the purpose of the sticky bit for files in Unix-like OS's?

Originally, the sticky bit meant that the program code stayed in memory
after an initial run, caching the routines for fast reuse. This was in the
days of slow disks so it sped up some operations.

The STVX bit now occupies this bit and is applied to the /tmp dir, meaning
only the owner of that object can delete it. Some still refer to STVX as
the "sticky bit".

Some even (very wrongly) call the SUID bit the "sticky bit".