Permissions problems got you down? Turn to Unix expert Brian Tanaka's unique guide to the permissions in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard that control access to your files, folders, and disks. You'll learn how to keep files private, when to set Ignore Permissions, what happens when you repair permissions, how to delete stuck files, and the best ways to solve permissions-related problems. Advanced concepts include the sticky bit, Snow Leopard's increasingly important access control lists, bit masks, and symbolic versus absolute ways to set permissions. The book covers how to take control of permissions via the Finder, with the Mac utility FileXaminer, and using the Unix command line.

Read this book to learn the answers to questions like:

• Why do so many problem-solving sites suggest that I repair permissions?
• Why can't I always access my own files when I boot from an external drive?
• What should I do if someone tells me to "set the permissions to -rw-r--r--"?
• What are promiscuous permissions, and should I be informing the vice squad?
• What are access control lists (ACLs), and what's new about them in Snow Leopard?
• What are the default permissions for copied files?
• With the NetInfo database gone, how do I edit account settings such as numeric UID?
• How do I work with account groups from System Preferences?