buildbot: ./configure: line 27: /dev/null: Permission denied

[Joshua Root]

On 2012-10-8 09:09 , Jeremy Lavergne wrote:
>> How does gcc, running as the macports user, have permission to modify
>> /dev anyway?
> 
> On my Snow Leopard box, its permissions seem to allow overwriting:
>  crw-rw-rw-   1 root  wheel       3,   2 Oct  7 18:01 null

Deleting (or more accurately, unlinking) a file is actually removing a
directory entry. So it's a write operation on the parent directory. The
permissions on the file itself should make no difference.

(If you're wondering, the structure representing the file itself is
freed when the ref count goes to zero.)

> Not familiar with "c" mode though, only recall t/s/S

It's a character device (cf. 'd' for directories).

- Josh