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What is the use of a read-only partition? I am particularly interested in gpt-formatted disks. If the partition is read-only, then data cannot be written to it. If we're reading data from it, then how did the data get there in the first place since its read-only? This can only imply that the data was written to the partition before formatting it and making it read-only. But if that is so, then formatting after writing the data would wipe out the data.

So, of what use is a read-only partition?

d2alphame
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    How did the data get there? Its clear that the partition was made read-only after the data was written to it. Its possible to do that with a [NTFS](http://superuser.com/questions/236786/how-to-make-a-partition-on-external-storage-read-only-and-revert-to-normal?rq=1), and I would imagine, its possible with most of the alternatives. – Ramhound Jan 12 '15 at 13:59
  • @Ramhound Does making the partition read-only not involve formatting it and thereby wiping the data off? – d2alphame Jan 12 '15 at 16:14
  • Read the contents of the articled I linked to. Its not required to format the partition to make it read-only. – Ramhound Jan 12 '15 at 16:17

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Just like a read-only file or directory, a read-only partition is a layer of protection against accidental (or purposeful) change or deletion. Can you bypass read-only attributes? Absolutely. It is not intended to be the ultimate solution, but one layer of many.

Keltari
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