Files
rootnode-academy/content/root/root-01-computing-linux-foundations/m06-users-and-permissions-foundations/02-demonstration-permission-denied.md
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ced4568andClaude Sonnet 5 15b616274b feat(root01): author Computing & Linux Foundations, and the real 01->05 prerequisite chain
Adds all 6 ROOT 01 modules (how computers run software, the shell, filesystem navigation,
files & text, processes, users & permissions foundations), each with a real lesson,
demonstration/guided exercise, knowledge check where warranted, a hands-on Lab, and a
reflection — 35 activities, 29 new content files.

Adds 6 new hands-on Linux scenarios (linux-inspect-hardware, linux-shell-basics,
linux-filesystem-navigation, linux-files-and-text, linux-process-management,
linux-permissions-foundations) plus 2 MCQ scenarios, using the existing generic scenario/
validation engine (docs/ROOT_FOUNDATIONS_LAB_STRATEGY.md §1) — every one tested end-to-end via
the real scenario setup/validate API, including negative tests confirming they correctly FAIL
when not actually solved (e.g. the process-management scenario fails while the target process
is still running; the permissions scenario is tested against a real `su - labuser` denial).

Wires rootnode-linux-foundations-assessment (2 required + 4 random-draw scenarios) using the
existing Phase 3B assessment engine.

Adds a real, server-side ROOT 01->02->03->04->05 course prerequisite chain
(courses.prerequisites) — verified live on two students: one who completed ROOT 01 sees ROOT 02
unlock; a fresh student sees ROOT 02 correctly locked while 03/04/05 stay vacuously satisfied
(their own prerequisite courses are still empty). ROOT 06+ and the Capstone are unaffected.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <[email protected]>
2026-08-26 12:59:52 -05:00

56 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown

# Demonstration: A Real Permission Denial, and the Real Fix
## OBSERVE
A file is owned by root with permissions `600` (owner read/write only):
```
$ stat -c '%a %U' data.txt
600 root
```
## HYPOTHESIS
Predict: can a different, non-root user read this file?
## INSPECT
```
$ su - labuser -c "cat data.txt"
cat: data.txt: Permission denied
```
Confirmed — `600` grants nothing to group or other, so `labuser` (neither the owner nor root)
is correctly denied.
## CHANGE
Grant read access to everyone, while keeping write access limited to the owner:
```
$ chmod 644 data.txt
$ stat -c '%a' data.txt
644
```
## VERIFY
```
$ su - labuser -c "cat data.txt"
sensitive
```
The exact same command that failed before now succeeds — the permission bits, not the file's
actual content, were the only thing that changed.
## Instructor Notes
**Demo goal:** Show a permission denial as a real, reproducible fact (not just a described
error message) and the exact minimal fix, not an overcorrection like `chmod 777`.
**Approximate timing:** 8 minutes live.
**Common mistake to watch for:** students reaching for `chmod 777` "to make the error go away"
— explicitly name why that's wrong (it also grants WRITE to everyone, not just the read access
actually needed) and connect it back to least privilege.