On 16/08/2018 17:34, Ronald Oussoren wrote:
> Ronald Oussoren <ronaldoussoren@mac.com> added the comment:
>
> I don't understand this clarification:
>
>> Clarification: while Mac/OS falls under "posix" in python terms - maybe
>> "breakage" will need to be accepted,
>> or, for "back-ports" Mac/OS will be "as if root or super-user" and use
>> an additional (optional) argument in 3.8 and beyond
>> to keep backwards compatibility.
> AFAIK macOS should behave just like other posix-y platforms here.  In particular, I've verified that cp(1) behaves the same as on other platforms: the SUID bit is stripped when copying a setuid file.
Glad to hear!
>
> Do you have a reason to assume that macOS is special here?
No reason to assume that macOS is different. "They" are all called
"posix" by python (Linux, macOS, AIX, FreeBSD, and I am sure there is
something else I have forgotten). So, I was trying to neither assume
that macOS is more "posix" or more "gnu". As the comments refer to gnu
coreutils behavior, not "posix" behavior (chmod --reference...) I am
looking for responses to be able to come up with better ideas for tests
we need - and then define/design code that meets the demands of the tests.

I was expecting or hoping macOS would behave as you describe but I was
also trying to prepare myself for a discussion of macOS user experience
being a discord.
>
>
> P.S. macOS is spelled macOS, not Mac/OS
Should be clear I am not a macOS user. Corrected!