On many operating systems, the ability to execute a file as a command is governed by
the presence of an execute permission bit. This bit usually defaults to
being disabled and must be explicitly enabled by the user for each file
that needs it. But it would be a monumental hassle to have to remember
exactly which files in a freshly checked-out working copy were supposed
to have their executable bits toggled on, and then to have to do that
toggling. So, Subversion provides the svn:executable
property as a way to specify that the executable bit for the file on
which that property is set should be enabled, and Subversion honors that
request when populating working copies with such files.
This property has no effect on filesystems that have no concept of
an executable permission bit, such as FAT32 and NTFS.[11] Also, although it has no defined values, Subversion will
force its value to *
when setting
this property. Finally, this property is valid only on files, not on
directories.
[11] The Windows filesystems use file extensions (such as .EXE, .BAT, and .COM) to denote executable files.