Slashdot Mirror
Which Filesystem Do You Use On Portable Media For Linux Systems?
An anonymous reader writes "Most people use MS filesystems on Disk-On-Keys, and portable hard drives, as these are readable from most machines. But this way you lose the files' permission information, which many times is very inconvenient (you must agree that having Ubuntu asking you whether to execute or display every text file or image you open from a DOK is annoying). Using 'regular' Linux filesystems like ext keeps the permissions, but may require using the superuser when switching machines (as the UIDs are different). So do any of you have a creative solution for this problem?"
So do any of you have a creative solution for this problem?
Isn't the whole point of this "problem" that there shouldn't be a solution to the problem?
That was my thoughts exactly, I don't think the guy understands how security works. If you remove the qualifications to access a file to perseve only -- say -- the need for user name to match, then what the hell kind of nonsense security is that?
I am the lawn!
How does requiring the UID to match prove any more secure than requiring a username match, for a portable drive? If I have the drive in my hand, I can plug it into any computer I want and access it as root anyway.
Well you are right and I completely agree, I was only trying to figure out how the guy was thinking. Is the sole purpose to transfer the permissions from one source to another? If so tar will do that.
I am the lawn!
Ever think of just making the uid's on your various machines match?
James
Not always possible... many times I plug my USB into a machine which is not mine..
... but which you have a user on? You can always do the crazy thing and assing a UID unlikely to be used ever, such as 64329, and ask the admins of the systems on which you have accounts on nicely if they can change your UID to such. If the guy refuses to then it's his choice, not a flaw of the Unix UID.
I am the lawn!