[$] Extended attributes for special files
The Linux extended-attribute mechanism allows the attachment of metadata to
files within a filesystem. It tends to be little used — at least, in the
absence of a security module like SELinux. There is interest in how these
attributes work, though, as evidenced by the discussions that have
followed the posting of revisions of this
patch by Vivek Goyal, which seeks to make a seemingly small change to
the rules regarding extended attributes and special files.