[OS X TeX] file permissions

[Daniel Becker]

>> what are the correct permissions for /usr/ and /usr/bin/ ?
> 
> pete 494 /\ ls -ld /usr /usr/bin
> drwxr-xr-x  11 root  wheel    408  1 Apr 22:15 /usr
> drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel  31042  1 Apr 22:14 /usr/bin

Hm. I have 

Daniels-MacBook:~ danielb$ ls -ld /usr /usr/bin
drwxr-xr-x@   15 root  wheel    510 26 Apr 21:06 /usr
drwxr-xr-x  1088 root  wheel  36992 30 Apr 01:25 /usr/bin

looks similar.

>> I used chmod -R 755 usr to fix a ruby complaint about a world writable directory in the search path and now updating MacTeX via TeX Live Utility doesn't work anymore.
> 
> 
> You don't own the directories and the files and subdirectories in them. And you *better* do not change permissions like a bloody beginner with 'chmod -R 755.' (Of course, if you need some practise in installing Mac OS X just run 'sudo chmod -R 755!') The proper tool is Disk Utility (Festplatten-Dienstprogramm). If Ruby doesn't like the correct permissions it reestablishes, then remove it!

Ah yes. Haha. I confess that I am a bloody beginner when it comes to unix. I thought sudo chmod -R 755 can't hurt. The problem was that I am not root? 

Do you suggest I need to reinstall OS X. Or simply to run Disk Utility? No jokes, please.

Daniel