Directory Access Permissions - permission to do what?

• For a directory, 'read' means permission to view the list of files in the directory.
• 'write' means permission to create new files in the directory.
• 'execute' means permission to access files in the directory.
• Thus, in order to be able to read the contents of a file, the User must have 'execute' permission on all directories on the way to the file, and 'read' permission on the file itself.
• For example, in order to read the file "/etc/passwd", the User must have all of the following permissions:
  • 'x' permission on directory "/"
  • 'x' permission on directory "/etc"
  • 'r' permission on the file "/etc/passwd" itself

Originally written by guy keren