What does 'g+w' mean?

In the context of changing file permissions in Linux, g+w is a symbolic representation used with the chmod command to modify the permissions of a file or directory.

Breakdown of g+w

• g: Stands for "group," which refers to the group associated with the file.
• +: Indicates that you are adding a permission.
• w: Stands for "write" permission.

Meaning of g+w

When you use g+w, you are adding write permission for the group associated with the file. This means that members of the group will be able to modify the file.

Example

To add write permission for the group on a file named document.txt, you would use the following command:

chmod g+w document.txt

Result

After running this command, members of the group associated with document.txt will have write permission, allowing them to edit or modify the file. If you check the permissions using ls -l, you should see that the write permission (w) has been added for the group.