alexpgp | E-mail interaction with an ISP:

May 01 10:19 AlexPGP: I am trying to install TWiki (twiki.org). Among the installation instructions are the following:

1. Set the permission of all files and directories in twiki/data and below so they are writable by user 'apache'

2. Set the permission of the twiki/pub directory and all subdirectories so that the files are writable by user 'apache'

If I may suggest chowning these directories recursively so that the owner remains 'springsb' and the group is 'apache'? I'm not sure having the files world-writable is a good idea.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers...

May 01 10:27 support13: Hello,

You should change the permissions of your pub folder to 777 and the content of your data folder to 777.

Due to the shared hosting environment we provide you have group permissions only for your user (and subftp accounts if created).

Best Regards,
Support

May 01 10:45 AlexPGP: If I do that, then pretty much anyone who cares to can write to those directories, putting my data in jeopardy.

I am not asking for my permissions to be expanded in any way, only that the apache user be allowed to write to those directories and files.

Is there a security concern here, or is this just "the rules"? In an e-mail earlier today, prior to signing up, I was told that the admins would try to accommodate installation details like this.

Cheers...

May 01 10:57 support13: There is nothing to worry about. This is the way our system is configured.
Most of the web based forum platforms and similar require the permissions of some directories to be set to 777.

Best Regards,
Support

Uh-huh.

Cheers...