Permissions Strings
Interpreting permissions strings is a complex issue because UNIX has a sophisticated security model for individual files. Security revolves around three different types of user: the owner of the file, the group of which that the file is a part, and everyone else.
The first character of the permissions string, identified in Figure 4.1 as access permissions, indicates the kind of file. The two most common values are d for directories and - for regular files. Be aware that there are many other file types that you'll rarely, if ever, see.
The following nine characters in the permissions string indicate what type of access is allowed for different users. From left to right, these characters show what access is allowed for the owner ...
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