What permissions should 'texlive' have?

Question

For years I have been using MacTeX which installs in /usr/local/texlive, and have recently started using Homebrew to manage some packages (though not — yet — TeX). As a consequence of the adoption of Homebrew, I've changed the owner of all of /usr/local to Me:admin (from root:wheel).

Is this change of ownership safe? Is there a reason that texlive needs to be owned by root?

Underwater

Answer 1

Normally usr/local is owned by root:wheel so that multiple usr's can access it, so by default everything installed to it is owned by root:wheel. Homebrew takes the rather unusual (but convenient) step of subverting this. It says, look this computer is just being used by one user, so I'll give her control of usr/local. It does this to

1. Make it more likely that all unixy installs will work for you
2. Make it safer (if there are any other users using the computer) - as a homebrew user, you'll only screw your own account up wiht homebrew if something goes wrong.

As you installed tex before homebrew it has root:wheel ownership, this has nothing to do with texlive, and everything to do with the normal usage of usr/local. If you change its permissions to Me::admin, then only you will be able to use texlive - I'd just leave it alone :)

Katonah

Leave it alone the way Homebrew set it (Me:admin; easier since I'll probably periodically have to re-chown all of /usr/local) or "leave it alone" the way it was (putting it back to root:wheel)? – Underwater

What about changing it to Me:wheel? – Manatee