Files moved to a shared project folder retain original Group

[John Hupp]

I got started on this general topic in the thread "Make new user 
sub-folders inherit parent permissions," but wanted to start a new 
thread to reflect the current state of development.

The goal: A shared folder tree that a group of users can freely edit 
(suitable for a project team, for instance).

After multiple exchanges here and a lot of reading, I concluded that the 
usual approach is to set the folder's SetGID bit after changing the 
folder's Group from the default owner-named group to a group that 
contains all the required users.

So in my little scenario with just user1 and user2:
- Add user1 and user2 to the existing "users" group
- As root, create /home/Shared
- Edit /home/Shared ownership and permissions:
         Owner: root --> user1 (maybe I didn't have to, but it seemed 
odd retaining root as the owner)
         Group: root --> users
         Change Content: Only owner --> Only owner and group
- chmod g+s /home/Shared (this takes care of the Set-Group-ID bit)
- Create symlinks to /home/Shared in the user1 and user2 home directories

Then I confirmed what some had already noted as a problem with this 
arrangement: It works fine with sub-folders and files created afresh in 
Shared, but folders/files copied or moved in from elsewhere retain their 
original group, and are not editable by all users in "users" until the 
group property is manually reassigned to "users."

The only workaround (to manual group reassignment) I have uncovered so 
far is to create a cron job that periodically fixes such files/folders.

Is there anything better?  A modest little daemon that can be set to 
monitor the folder tree?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found a second problem with this arrangement, but it's not an 
ownership/permissions problem.  When Ubuntu One offers "Add another 
folder from your computer" (or language like that), what it really means 
is "Add another sub-folder from your home folder."  It will not accept 
/home/Shared.

Will it follow a symlink from my home folder?  (I haven't tried that 
yet, but I would be surprised.)


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