anyone tried being *very* explicit with respect to file permissions?

[Mike]

Given a golden machine write a script that captures the ownership
and permissions of all files in /etc, /var, and /usr. Using that
script generate a files.cf file specifying the files: stanza
and an entry for every file on the golden system. Then run that
files.cf file each night to verify that all files are what they
should be.

This seems like a slow way to force all files to be the correct
ownership and permissions. Is there another way given that the
files in /etc have different owners and groups?

Mike