coreutils-5.2.1. touch check fails as "/" is writable on OS X

[Stuart Jefferys]

I was running the tests for coreutils-5.2.1, and the second touch  
test (not-owner) failed. The exact output is below.

On Mac OS X (at least 10.4.1, the latest Tiger version) the default  
user is something between an unprivileged user and a root user. Among  
other things, they have write access to the '/' root directory  
because they are a member of the "admin" group. Changing the group  
for '/' to wheel (a group the default user is NOT in) allows the  
tests to complete. There appears to be a mechanism for skipping tests  
based on the permission of the user, and although this is not exactly  
a "root" user issue, could that be applied here?

'/sbin' is also an obvious choice for a directory that doesn't have  
write access by the default user.

The appropriate part of the test output is:

...
==================
Making check in touch
make  check-TESTS
PASS: relative
0a1
> touch: setting times of `/': Permission denied
FAIL: not-owner
...
======================================
1 of 10 tests failed
Please report to address@hidden

Stuart Jefferys
srj_AT_unc_DOT_edu