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add docs re file permission issues with xattrs
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chrisd8088 committed Jun 6, 2019
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Expand Up @@ -512,6 +512,22 @@ instead of in kernel mode.

![Diagram of phase 1 of the Linux implementation](images/phase1.png)

One caveat with the use of a user-space filesystem is the requirement
of user read and write file permissions in order to check and update
the extended attributes which maintain the projection state of a given
file or directory.

Whereas an in-kernel implementation may read and set attributes in
the `trusted.*` namespace, and do so at will, a user-space filesystem
is restricted to the use of the `user.*` extended attribute namespace,
and, further, can only read and change attributes as allowed by the file
permission modes of a given inode. Thus in order to test whether
a given file or directory is a placeholder, the user must have read
permission, so a write-only file mode like `0222` can not be permitted.
And user write permissions must be assigned to any read-only files or
directories, at least temporarily, in order to convert them from the
placeholder state to another (i.e., hydrated or full).

### Phase 2 – Hybrid

The second development phase adds an in-kernel projfs module which, at first,
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