FAT filesystems do not have any file ownership information, and only have "read-only" and "hidden" attributes which apply to all users. Remember, that filesystem is from the good old days of DOS up to Win98. The best that Linux/Unix can do is to emulate file permissions on mounting the device, but they can't be stored on it.
Ext2/3 on the other hand has file ownership and permissions, but you'll need some special software to mount and use it on Windows or Mac. If you need to retain file permissions etc., that's the best way to go. On 11/09/2007, Graham Petley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > When I untar a file onto a USB disk which has been formatted with FAT, all > the > file permissions are 700. The original permissions on the files in the tar > archive have been lost (they are mostly 644 and 755). > > This is a problem if you are working on a remote Windows computer with a > live > CD and your data on a USB disk. Any modifications to files on the USB disk > have > to have their permissions laboriously edited by hand on a Linux system > afterwards. It's possible to reformat the USB disk to say Ext2, but then > it > can't be read on a Windows PC or even a MAC (which is really surprising > since a > MAC is a Unix machine, but that's the way it is). > > When I was in the UK recently I checked a number of Linux books for > information > on workarounds to this problem, but all the books ignored it. No > discussion at > all. Yet FAT is a crude file system and USB disks a good way to store > data. Am > I missing something here ... is there a good way to keep file permissions > on a > USB disk which is readable by Linux, MAC and Windows computers? > > Best regards, Graham Petley > _______________________________________________ > MLUG-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailserv.megabyte.net/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list > -- Ramon Casha
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