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STICKY(8)							     STICKY(8)

NAME
       sticky - persistent text and append-only directories

DESCRIPTION
       The  sticky bit (file mode bit 01000, see chmod(2)) is used to indicate
       special treatment for certain executable files and directories.

STICKY TEXT EXECUTABLE FILES
       While the `sticky bit' is set on a sharable executable file,  the  text
       of  that	 file will not be removed from the system swap area.  Thus the
       file does not have to  be  fetched  from	 the  file  system  upon  each
       execution.   Shareable  text  segments  are normally placed in a least-
       frequently-used cache after use, and thus the `sticky bit'  has	little
       effect on commonly-used text images.

       Sharable executable files are made by the -n and -z options of ld(1).

       Only  the  super-user  can  set the sticky bit on a sharable executable
       file.

STICKY DIRECTORIES
       A directory whose `sticky bit' is set becomes an append-only directory,
       or,  more  accurately,  a  directory  in which the deletion of files is
       restricted.  A file in a	 sticky	 directory  may	 only  be  removed  or
       renamed	by  a  user if the user has write permission for the directory
       and the user is the owner of the file, the owner of the	directory,  or
       the  super-user.	  This feature is usefully applied to directories such
       as /tmp which must be publicly  writable	 but  should  deny  users  the
       license to arbitrarily delete or rename each others' files.

       Any user may create a sticky directory.	See chmod(1) for details about
       modifying file modes.

STICKY SYMBOLIC LINKS
       Some file systems (such as autonfsmount(8)) will set the	 'sticky  bit'
       on symbolic links to indicate that the link points to a directory. This
       is done to indicate to other programs, such  as	ls(1)  and  Workspace,
       that  they  need not read the link to determine whether the link points
       to a directory.	The advantage  is  that	 programs  can	improve	 their
       performance by avoiding the sometimes time-consuming read of the link.

       For  example,  with  autonfsmount(8),  a	 remote	 NFS filesystem is not
       mounted until a sticky symbolic link is read. After the	filesystem  is
       mounted,	 the  sticky  bit  is  turned  off  and	 remains off until the
       filesystem  gets	 unmounted.   This  scenario  makes  Workspace	faster
       because	it  doesn't have to read the link unless the NFS filesystem is
       already mounted.

BUGS
       Since the text areas of sticky text executables are stashed in the swap
       area, abuse of the feature can cause a system to run out of swap.

       Neither	open(2)	 nor  mkdir(2)	will create a file with the sticky bit
       set.

4th Berkeley Distribution	 May 26, 1986			     STICKY(8)
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