rm: cannot remove: Permission denied [closed]

    max@serv$ whoami
    max
    max@serv$ ls -la ./defines.php 
    -rwxrwxrwx 1 max max 1985 2011-11-16 02:01 ./defines.php
    max@serv$ chmod 0777 ./defines.php 
    max@serv$ rm ./defines.php 
    rm: cannot remove `./defines.php': Permission denied
    max@serv$

How can I delete this file?

Solution 1:

The code says everything:

max@serv$ chmod 777 .

Okay, it doesn't say everything.

In UNIX and Linux, the ability to remove a file is not determined by the access bits of that file. It is determined by the access bits of the directory which contains the file.

Think of it this way -- deleting a file doesn't modify that file. You aren't writing to the file, so why should "w" on the file matter? Deleting a file requires editing the directory that points to the file, so you need "w" on the that directory.