I have a particular requirement to set /var/lock/ to be writeable by the mail group. However if I run linuxconf or netconf and "activate changes", even if I don't select any changes, the ownership of /var/lock/ is changed to uucp.root/755. This breaks my application and I don't see any reason why linuxconf needs to do this.
One of linuxconf's standard behaviours is to be a second guard watching over system file and directory permissions. You can tell linuxconf the new permissions you want to use and it will quit annoying you like this. Control/Control files and systems/Configure all configuration files is the path you need to take to make these kinds of changes.