[comp.sys.mips] mips mail confusion

gamiddle@maytag.waterloo.edu (Guy Middleton) (09/20/90)

In RISC/os 4.30, /usr/ucb/mail was a symlink to mailx, which (like /bin/mail)
was setgid-mail, presumably so it could write lockfiles in /usr/mail (which
was mode 775, in group mail).

In 4.50, /usr/bin/mailx is still setgid-mail, but /bin/mail is setgid-mail
and setuid-root, and /usr/ucb/mail is entirely new, and is neither setuid nor
setguid.  /usr/mail is still 775, group mail.

What's going on in 4.50?  If /usr/ucb/mail is not setgid, how can it lock the
mailboxes?  Does it use flock() now?  Is it still necessary for /usr/mail to
be 775?  We don't have 4.50 sources yet, so I'm puzzled.

 -Guy Middleton, University of Waterloo		gamiddleton@watmath.waterloo.edu
		(+1 519 885 1211 x3472)		gamiddleton@watmath.uwaterloo.ca