Looking through other users' (unprotected) files

[mash at mips.UUCP]

I missed the early stages of this, so let me add just a few terse
facts to the discussion:

a) In early years in UNIX, it was explicitly assumed by everybody that
files left readable could be looked at by everybody, and that you would
keep files not to be desired so under unreadable directories.
On many machines, default file creation mode was 0666, and in fact, many
people left most files writable, as well as readable.

b) New people were often explicitly told to rummage around; often the most
interesting stuff was not yet placed into the public source directories.
Thus, this style was a generally approved part of UNIX culture/folklore.

c) As there got to be more UNIX systems living in computer centers [as opposed
to serving small tight-knit groups), it was less clear that a) and b) were
uniformly desired by everybody.

d) After a lot of wrangling around amongst groups with differing philosophies,
umask(2) was added specifically to allow the "open-ness level" of system to be
controlled at the system, group, and user level, because it was CLEAR that
people disagreed, quite legitimately, about the appropriate levels needed.

Thus, this issue comes down to cultural expectations, which reasonably
differ.  There is no right or wrong answer, only the need for people to
understand the local rules and deal with them appropriately.  A good analogy,
since people have been talking about doors, and burglars, etc, is the following:

What does it mean if somebody has their office door closed?

In some places, it means "Absolutely do not disturb".
In some, it means "Probably don't bother me, but since I don't have my
"DO NOT DISTURB" sign up, it's OK."
In some, it doesn't mean anything: everyone always has their door closed.
(I've heard that this is more the style in Germany, for example. See
Edward T. Hall, "The Hidden Dimension", 1969, Doubleday Anchor, Garden City, NY,
for example, on the use and meaning of space.  Especially interesting are
the sections dealing with the problems when people's unconscious
assumptions clash due to different cultural backgrounds.)
-- 
-john mashey	DISCLAIMER: <generic disclaimer, I speak for me only, etc>
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