Linux capabilities aren't capabilities in the sense of capability-based security! They don't follow that security model. It's just an unfortunate pun. Capabi

Linux capabilities aren't capabilities in the sense of capability-based security! They don't follow that security model. It's just an unfortunate pun. Capability-based security wasn't mainstream at the time they were invented. It arguably isn't now either. You can argue that Android/iOS are capability-based, but the model is pretty watered down. Capability-based security for end users (rather than sys admins) is an unsolved problem as far as I can tell. See this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security A capability (known in some systems as a key) is a communicable, unforgeable token of authority. Linux capabilities don't meet this definition. They're just permissions. The sibling comment is also correct: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15807241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15807241