sticky bit -- Definition

The sticky  bit is  one of the  mode bits associated  with a file.   If the
sticky bit is set for an  executable file and swapping is enabled, COHERENT
behaves in a special way when it executes that file.

When the  COHERENT system  executes the file  the first time,  all proceeds
normally.  When  the program exits, however, the pure  segments are left on
the swap  device; when the  program is re-invoked,  COHERENT reads ``pure''
code (text) areas from the swap device and all other (impure) segments from
the file system.  This speeds execution of large programs that are executed
frequently.

This strategy works well on  systems that have large swap devices.  Because
overuse of  the sticky bit  would quickly swamp  the swap device,  only the
superuser can set the sticky bit.

See Also

chmod,
Using COHERENT

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness