Sharing files with other Mac users

[thewhitehart]

I haven't had the chance yet to share files with another mac user. I've got the windows sharing pretty much downpact, but I'm a bit confused as to what other mac users see in each other's home folders when in a network.

I've been learning about file permissions and such, and was curious to know why when I create a new folder in my home directory, the permissions for others are set to 'read only'. Shouldn't they be set by default to 'no access'? I though only the public folder should be read by others, and the drop box written to.

So basically, when you look at another person's mac over the network, what exactly do you see in their home folder?

 

[killmoms]

Depends on who you connect as. If you connect as that user (with the appropriate password), you see the entire home folder and can read/write to any part of it. If you connect as a guest, you get access to their Public directory and write access to the Drop Box only.

 

[thewhitehart]

Cool, thanks.

One thing I found a little silly, though. I'm the only one who uses this computer, but I created another user on it just to see what folders I could access on my own home directory from this 'new user'. Ideally, I would guess that it could only be the public folder. It turns out that every time I make a new folder in my home directory, it automatically grants read access to others. Shouldn't the default be 'no access' for others, just like the desktop, movies, and documents folder? I could always save new folders I make to the 'desktop' folder or 'documents' folder, but I don't want my desktop cluttered or things that are not documents in the document folder.

Basically, is it normal for mac os x to grant read access to others on new folders I make in my home directory? Honestly, i don't mind if other local users on this machine see these folders, but will people logging in as guest from another mac also see these folders if the access for "others" is set to "read only"?

I don't know anyone else who has a mac handy to test this theory