On Wed, 9 Dec 2020 12:22:28 -0700 Fred <f...@blakemfg.com> wrote:
> When I was denied permission to write a file to the device as a > regular user I checked the permissions and then discovered root could > not change them. Being a hardware oriented person I was concerned > the SecureAccess software needed to change a write protect bit in the > device and decided to ask for help. I should have tried writing to > the device as root but being very busy I didn't. It is writable by > root and anyone can read it so there is no problem. I believe a mount point will always be owned by root, regardless of the permissions of the underlying directory, because only root is allowed to mount things. The device mounted on the mount point will normally be owned by the logged-in user, unless /etc/fstab contains instructions to the contrary. A device mounted while no user is logged in will be owned by root (again, subject to fstab), something that usually happens if an external drive has been left attached after shutting down. It's generally a bad idea to boot with an external medium attached, unless it's bootable and you explicitly want to boot it. If it isn't bootable, it will either be mounted as root (which may not prevent other users writing to it) or the BIOS may hang. -- Joe
