2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
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wheel bit
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2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
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n. A privilege bit that allows the possessor to perform some restricted
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operation on a timesharing system, such as read or write any file on the
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system regardless of protections, change or look at any address in the
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running monitor, crash or reload the system, and kill or create jobs and
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user accounts. The term was invented on the TENEX operating system, and
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carried over to TOPS-20, XEROX-IFS, and others. The state of being in a
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privileged logon is sometimes called wheel mode. This term entered the Unix
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culture from TWENEX in the mid-1980s and has been gaining popularity there
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(esp. at university sites). See also root.
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