Question

what is the importance of permissions in Linux? Use approximately 200-300 words

Answer 1

Hey,

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Permission allows for hiding certain files from some users. But its most important use case is to keep files secure. E.g. the normal user may execute some files like programs, but not change anything in them - meaning even if the machine gets infected by some virus, it cannot get into those files at all. Even more importantly, stuff like settings are not even readable by a normal user - e.g. the fstab file listing how and where disks are mounted, can only be opened by a root or sudo user (the sudo user needs to re-enter passwords each time).

This is the main reason it is recommended to never start a Linux / Unix as a root user. And you should actually avoid running it as a sudo user as well. Especially if running as some form of server, the server task (say a web page server) can be run as a specific user. Then that user is only given rights to read/write some special folders / files. Thus even if some black-hat breaks into it, all they can do is see what that username can see - nothing else is even shown, never mind changeable.

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