List of the tests that fail with PermissionError when run as a non-root user on an Android emulator (API 24) and fixed by this patch:
test_posix test_shutil test_stat test_genericpath test_ntpath test_posixpath test_macpath test_eintr test_pathlib
Android uses SELinux mandatory access control (MAC), see:
https://source.android.com/security/selinux/
Android commit message that does not grant hard link capabilities by default:
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/external/sepolicy/+/85ce2c7

New changeset 43f9366d8883 by Xavier de Gaye in branch '3.6':
Issue bpo-28759: Fix the tests that fail with PermissionError when run as
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/43f9366d8883

New changeset db1d20825d71 by Xavier de Gaye in branch 'default':
Issue bpo-28759: Merge 3.6.
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/db1d20825d71

Re-opening the issue for a more generic change that skips the tests when PermissionError is raised instead of when they are run by an Android non-root user as this is done currently after the previously pushed changes.

I think it is worth to add special helper in test.support for using as a context manager:

    with helper():
        os.mkfifo(filename)

Then you could change its implementation without changing the testing code. For example:

    @contextmanager
    def helper():
        try:
            yield
        except PermissionError as e:
            raise unittest.SkipTest(str(e))

or

    @contextmanager
    def helper():
        if android_not_root:
            raise unittest.SkipTest("operation not allowed, non root user")
        yield

Thanks for this interesting suggestion Serhiy. I propose to use supported_operation() as the name of the helper() generator.

I will update the patches accordingly in issues bpo-29180, bpo-29181 and bpo-29184, and re-open bpo-28764.

re-open bpo-28764.

Oops, no bpo-28764 is not relevant here.

New patch following Serhiy's suggestion in msg285008.

I don't know what is a good name for such helper. supported_operation() looks too general. Maybe ask on Python-Dev?

'supported_operation':

• The intent in using 'supported' was that the context manager could possibly be extended later.
• 'operation' is the terminology used in the GNU libc documentation [1].
  I will replace 'supported_operation' with 'permitted_operation' unless a better name is proposed.

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Error-Codes.html

The purpose of this helper is skipping the test rather than failing if some OS operation is not permitted by current configuration. May be skip_if_not_permitted()?

Similar helpers that convert runtime error in skipping a test: import_module(), get_attribute(), bind_unix_socket(), system_must_validate_cert(). They are more concrete, guard some specific operation.

Context manager is not the only possible syntax. The helper can call a function:

    helper(os.mkfifo, filename)

or be a wrapper:

helper(os.mkfifo)(filename)

If you prefer such syntax.

There are many possibilities, and I think it is worth to discuss this on Python-Dev.

Please go ahead and start the discussion on Python-Dev.

New changeset 92c2ca7 by xdegaye in branch 'master':
bpo-28759: Skip some tests on PermissionError raised by Android (GH-4350)
92c2ca7

New changeset ad004f9 by xdegaye in branch '3.6':
[3.6] bpo-28759: Skip some tests on PermissionError raised by Android (GH-4350) (bpo-4380)
ad004f9