Very Computer

Script started on Tue Dec 28 15:21:20 1993
gondor.nash:~> umask 077
gondor.nash:~> touch x
gondor.nash:~> chmod 777 x
gondor.nash:~> cp x y
gondor.nash:~> ls -l x y
-rwxrwxrwx   1 nash     staff          0 Dec 28 15:21 x*
-rwxrwxrwx   1 nash     staff          0 Dec 28 15:21 y*
gondor.nash:~> umask
77
gondor.nash:~> exit

script done on Tue Dec 28 15:21:48 1993

--
             ,--, | Ron Nash      San Diego State University

   ,;`( )__, )  ~ |  
  //  //   '--;   | Gin-N-Tonic   endurance horse
  '   \     |     | Luv on Fire   trusty trail horse

Of course, you may have gotten used to this behaviour in SunOS 4.1.x,
but even the SunOS 4.1.x cp(1) man page said that cp should use the mode
of the source if the target doesn't exist. The SysV and BSD 4.2
man pages say exactly the same.

Conclusion: SunOS 4.1.x cp(1) is broken, because it doesn't preserve
the mode of the file copied, as stated in the manual page.

What you observe is perfectly normal, documented, UNIX behaviour.

Casper