CHMOD TABLE I do NOT know why people muck around with the chmod u+ ... Here is the table so you can see how to do it with Octal numbers. S p e G O c U r t i s o h a e u e l r p r -- -- -- -- 4 4 4 4 Read, Special is SUID 2 2 2 2 Write, Special is SGID 1 1 1 1 Execute, Special is Sticky The 1 quantity can mean different things for directories and files. Usually you use only the 1 Special for a directory. Look at /tmp as an example. The 1 execute for every normal file means execute, but for a directory it controls whether or not somebody can cd into it. To make an executable the proper perms for having SUID, SGID, rwx for User, x for the Group, and x for Other, all you have to do is type: chmod 6711 FILE Now wasn't that a heck of a lot easier than using those stupid +/- flags crap? SET IT AND FORGET IT!