very strange permissions problems

[Brutalbrutus]

Hi, everyone. I'm running Mac OSX 10.7.3 on a MacBook Pro, and *every time* I repair the permissions, whether using DiskUtility or Onyx, I get the following output, *always*:


Begin:

Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root”
Repaired “private/var/root”
ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root/Library”
Repaired “private/var/root/Library”
ACL found but not expected on “private/var/root/Library/Preferences”
Repaired “private/var/root/Library/Preferences”
Permissions differ on “usr/lib/ruby”; should be lrwxr-xr-x ; they are drwxr-xr-x .
Repaired “usr/lib/ruby”

Permissions repair complete

END

I asked a Unix jockey friend of mine if this was anything to worry about, and he said "Ruby is odd software to be running. See what the forums say."

So, I ask you: Is this anything to worry about? Many thanks in advance.
(If you need any more information, feel free to email me.)

Brutalbrutus

[benwiggy]

1. This is not strange. It is a well-known bug. Ignore it.
Here's Apple's tech note on the subject.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448

2. Whether you run disk permissions from Disk Utility, Onyx or anything else, they all call the same underlying software. They are just different GUI front-ends.

3. There is no need to regularly repair permissions. It is not "essential maintenance". Permissions are not made of cheese; they do not rot or rust.

[Brutalbrutus]

It made me very happy to read: "This is a well-known bug. Ignore it."

I shall ignore it!

And I shall not repair permissions as often as I have been doing.

I appreciate your looking up the link to the Apple notes, also.

You are most kind, sir.

[Makoto]

Isn't it mostly that they're using 'special' permissions for all of those items, and the permissions check complains because they're differing from the 'expected' permissions, rather than anything being caused by an actual bug?

I mean, sure, it IS annoying having to wade through all of those 'errors' if and when you do a permissions check/repair, but I didn't think it was actually a bug, per se...

[benwiggy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Makoto Isn't it mostly that they're using 'special' permissions for all of those items, and the permissions check complains because they're differing from the 'expected' permissions, rather than anything being caused by an actual bug?

In what way are the file attributes on those files "special"? And why should they be unexpected?

RP resets file attributes according to the data found in /Library/Receipts*, which holds a record of certain packages that were installed onto the disk. It only changes some system files. No third-party apps or user files.

It makes little sense for RP to report a difference but not "fix" it, when its job is to change the attributes that are different. Some other forum members feel quite passionate about this, and I'm sure they'll wade in with more detailed info.

* Did I read somewhere that some other location is now involved?

[Makoto]

I don't entirely know, myself. I'll admit I'm mainly going on what I've read - in that it seems like every time someone raises the issue about the 'errors,' someone else says that it's because they're using special-set permissions for the items, and it's nothing to worry about.

Certainly, they do differ from what Disk Utility is expecting to see. Maybe they have a secondary list of specific permissions not to touch as long as they're set a certain way? I don't know. That makes less sense than having DU have the 'proper' permissions in the first place, so it doesn't throw that long list of errors.

I thought I'd heard there was another location than /Library/Receipts, too.