• DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world
    6·
    11 months ago

    Try editing a file in /etc as a regular user. It happens sometimes and you really want that warning that the write failed.

    Anyway, :x is superior. It only writes if there are changes. So, your mtime doesn’t change unnecessarily.

    • meow
      4·
      11 months ago

      wait people care about the mtime?

      • carcus@lemmy.mlEnglish
        4·
        11 months ago

        I’ve had to do forensics on a rogue change. In finding when and who actually changed the file, mtime can help narrow it down when compared with wtmp.