(Answer) (Category) SCO UnixWare 7/OpenUNIX 8/OpenServer 6 FAQ : (Category) General Information :
What's a sticky bit?
A sticky bit is one of the permissions that can be set on a directory. Most people are familiar with read and write permissions already.
      drwxrwxrwx         <--  A directory that any user can list,
                              create/delete files in, or access.
When the sticky bit is set on a directory, it means that anyone can create files in the directory but users can only delete files they own.
      drwxrwxrwt         <--  Here the sticky bit is set.
The temp directory has the sticky bit set on it. To set the sticky bit on a directory called /foo as shown above, enter the command:
      chmod 1777 /foo


There's also the possibility that the x bit will not be set for "others," as in drwxrwxrw-, and the sticky bit perms for that setup would then be drwxrwxrwT.


On another note, man 2 chmod specifies how the sticky bit on an ELF executable can be set to make an instance of that file stay in memory after the last user terminates their instance of that process, thus making that ELF run faster the next time.

<mschalit@pacbell.net>
gerberb@zenez.com

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