linuxmint / linuxmint/nemo

Unable to modify the group ownership of files using Nemo

Open
#3,732 5 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
C
Stars
1.6k
Forks
368
Avg merge
4d 4h
Merged PRs (30d)
2

Description

Distribution

Linux Mint 22.2

Package version

6.4.5 and 6.6.3

Frequency

Always

Bug description

When right-clicking a directory using Nemo, then selecting the Properties ... Permissions option, it is not possible to change group ownership of files in a directory.

Steps to reproduce
  1. Create a test directory with some files.

./TestDir:
total 8
drwxrwxr-x 2 clem clem 4096 Mar 12 11:34 .
drwxrwxr-x 5 clem clem 4096 Mar 12 11:33 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem clem 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-1.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem clem 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-2.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem clem 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-3.txt

  1. Change the group.

./TestDir:
total 8
drwxrwxr-x 2 clem shared 4096 Mar 12 11:34 .
drwxrwxr-x 5 clem clem 4096 Mar 12 11:33 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-1.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-2.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-3.txt

  1. Using Nemo, right-click the directory, select 'Properties' then The 'Permissions' option/tab.

In the Group dropdown list, the group 'shared' will be listed. Change that to 'clem' and click the
'Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files' button. The expectation here is that the group should be changed back to 'clem', but it remains as 'shared'.

./TestDir:
total 8
drwxrwxr-x 2 clem clem 4096 Mar 12 11:34 .
drwxrwxr-x 5 clem clem 4096 Mar 12 11:33 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-1.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-2.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 clem shared 0 Mar 12 11:34 testfile-3.txt

Note that the directory group is changed.

Expected behavior

It should be possible to propogate group changes using the interface without having to use the terminal.

Additional information

The issue is present in the 6.6.3 version of Nemo which includes the bugfix detailed in bug report #3730/#3731.

The only obvious workaround is to modify the group via a terminal session.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the problem in Nemo 6.6.3 on Linux Mint 22.2 using the listed directory and group changes. Start at the Permissions option and the “Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files” action, then trace how group ownership is propagated. Done means the interface changes the group of both the selected directory and its enclosed files without requiring the terminal.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, linux
Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.