Re: vim vs nano on editing system files

On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 9:29:59 PM UTC-5, Sven Guckes wrote:
> * Dahong Tang <tang.dahong@gmail.com> [2013-08-08 04:16]:
>
> > On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 8:48:56 PM UTC-5, Ben Fritz wrote:
>
> > > On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 8:42:20 PM UTC-5, Dahong Tang wrote:
>
> > > > I have a system configuration file that belongs to root.
>
> > > > I can edit this file in nano using the command sudo nano,
>
> > > > but I can't edit it using sudo vim - it's always read-only
>
> > > > in vim, unless it is opened by root. Does anyone know why
>
> > > > is this? Is there an option in vim that would allow the
>
> > > > file to be edited via sudo vim, just like in nano? Thanks!
>
> > >
>
> > > I don't know why that is. Can Vim write it anyway?
>
> > > I.e. do you just mean that Vim has its own 'readonly'
>
> > > option set, or can Vim actually not write the file?
>
> >
>
> > I think vim has its own readonly option. If I use :w!,
>
> > then it would override the readonly option, and the file can
>
> > be edited subsequently with sudo vim. I don't understand why.
>
>
>
> nano doesnt show any permissions, vim does. end of story.
>
>
>
> (we simply have a description of
>
> a problem lacking information.)
>
>
>
> so.. as root create a file in /tmp
>
> and make it only readable for root:
>
>
>
> $ FILE=/tmp/testfile
>
> $ sudo touch $FILE
>
> $ sudo chmod 400 $FILE
>
>
>
> now compare what nano and vim tell you:
>
>
>
> $ sudo nano $FILE
>
> $ sudo vim $FILE
>
>
>
> nano doesnt say anything..
>
> it's running as "root".
>
>
>
> vim, however, checks the permissions
>
> and tells it has got the rights
>
> to write this file or not.
>
> of course, a ":w!" finally make used of
>
> root's priviledges to write anything.
>
>
>
> i prefer vim's way. :)
>
>
>
> Sven

Thanks Sven. Your explanation makes sense if I used the command vim $FILE, but I used sudo vim $FILE. Why does vim even bother to set the file to readonly when I used sudo? That is the part that I don't understand.

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