"share folder" does not appear

[Thomas Boutell]

I have a standard Ubuntu Hardy Heron beta laptop installation.

I see no "share folder" option in my right-click context menu when I right-click on a folder. It's not grayed out, it's not broken, it's simply not there.

I can't find anything relating to Samba or file sharing in "add/remove programs." There is nothing about sharing under Preferences or Administration.

So there doesn't seem to be any "right" way to share files at all.

While I know Samba well at a lower, more old-school level, I'm really trying to use Ubuntu as intended here and avoid hacking the daylights out of it to do a simple thing. So what am I missing?

I am running:

Description: Ubuntu hardy (development branch)
Release: 8.04

[Daniel Morales (danielmorales)]

Do you have installed 'nautilus-share' package?

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

That package does not appear to exist:

boutell@tombuntu:~$ sudo apt-get -s install nautilus-browse
[sudo] password for boutell:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package nautilus-browse

I used -s because I didn't want to actually install it right off the bat, as there's still a second important question here: why is the package not installed already? What, if anything, could a normal user have done through the GUI to figure this out and install it without resorting to the command line?

But in any case, it doesn't seem to be the right package name.

Thanks for your help.

[Daniel Morales (danielmorales)]

The package name is: 'nautilus-share' not -browse. :)
Probably, you will need to restart nautilus after install it, but i'm not sure of that.

Also take a look at: Right click on a folder, -> Properties. And check if there is 'Share' tab on the dialog.

And yes, the package should be shipped by default, and will be at the upcoming 8.04 release.

Regards,

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

Whoops, how did I misread that?

Okay, so the nautilus-share package will be in the final release but was absent from the beta.

I installed nautilus-share. I then restarted Nautilus with nautilus -q.

I then saw the sharing options choice on the right-click menu, and went for that, and tried to set up a share of a subfolder of my home folder.

Then I got this error:

'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied

You do not have permission to create a usershare. Ask your administrator to grant you permissions to create a share.

I still get this error if I disable the write access and guest access options.

What I expected to happen:

Either (a) it should "just work" (I've heard rumors of something called "simple sharing," where and what is it?) or (b) I should get a root password escalation prompt and then it should work.

Thanks for your help!

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

P.S. The "Share" tab of the "Properties" dialog shows the same behavior.

[Daniel Morales (danielmorales)]

I think you need a Samba setup, from README.Debian of package:
http://rafb.net/p/4ZH9HF44.html

Anyway, i'm not sure if the package do the setup, and if the package is shipped with Beta.
I'm assigning your report to 'nautilus-share' and maybe someone familiar with that package can answer your questions.

--
 Daniel

[Daniel Morales (danielmorales)]

What is the package version?

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

I think this is the correct command to show the version that is actually installed, if not, please clarify how I can do that:

apt-cache --installed showpkg nautilus-share
Package: nautilus-share
Versions:
0.7.2-0ubuntu5 (/var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_hardy_main_binary-i386_Packages) (/var/lib/dpkg/status)

The nautilus-share package added the "share" options and also asked permission to install other packages when I first attempted to use them, which I gave it permission to do.

I understand the directions you linked to, but I still think there's a bug here from a typical user's perspective: there's a UI for it, but that UI doesn't work. I should be getting an invitation to provide the supervisor password and get myself enabled. The command line shouldn't be required for this everyday typical use of a PC.

Thanks for the help!

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

To further clarify why I see the issue this way: I'm in an office full of Macs. The Mac People (tm) have "dropboxes" for file sharing. I'd like a dropbox of my own. Seems reasonable and not especially hard to get working under the hood. But the UI only goes halfway there.

(Macs can easily see Samba shares, so that's a viable strategy.)

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

After a reboot the sharing GUI appears to work. I did not do anything at the command prompt as root except apt-get install nautilus-share. The resolution seems to be:

1. Install the nautilus-share package.
2. Reboot the system.

There is no message to the effect that #2 is necessary, the sharing GUI just complains as described above:

'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied

If nautilus-share will be "in the box" with the final Hardy Heron that's probably the end of the matter. If it isn't, though, then the post-install steps need to be fixed so a reboot is unnecessary or clarified so that the user knows it is. And it ought to be possible to find this package via the add/remove GUI.

Thanks for the assistance.

[Thomas Boutell (boutell)]

One last clarification, the resulting shares do work properly.

[Gina (ginalinux)]

There's the right-click share option for a folder BUT... it's not working now (it was a while back) "Create Share" and "Add the permissions automatically" just go round in circles!! The shares I had set up have now disappeared and I can find no way of setting up shares again.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

I can confirm this to be a problem. There is no way to create a share out of the box with the release of 8.04 hardy. This WAS working wonderfully in Gutsy 7.10. There was a folder sharing GUI on the admin menu under system tools, this seems to have been removed from Hardy 8.04.

I happen to agree with the expectations of the OP Thomas Boutell, this should just work out of the box or there should be a readily obvious way to get folder/file sharing working again like it was in Gutsy. Why on earth was a completely functional feature of 7.10 removed from Hardy ?????

I know how to edit the smb.conf file to make sharing function, I'm not looking for advice from someone to get sharing working, I spent 2 years looking and reading how to do it, I'm reporting that file sharing is broken, there are no hints in Hardy suggesting or pointing the less skilled users how to share files or even change workgroups.....Why does anyone think that everyone in the world uses the default workgroup MSHOME that ubuntu defaults to, and why is there no GUI location in the network tools to change the default workgroup ?

I get the very same error when I try to enable a share folder:

"'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied

You do not have permission to create a usershare. Ask your administrator to grant you permissions to create a share."

I am an administrator on my computer, not a desktop user, I should be asked for a password to grant the permissions to cause the sharing activity to suceed. Since I have no clue how to grant the permissions to my self to share a folder the error message above is useless to me and other normal linux desktop users.

I hate having to edit a conf ( I also hate having to spend days and days having to search for the conf file needed to make the changes in) file in text mode, there are way too many possibilities to toast a system guys, give us non linux experts a gui that helps us do what we want without risking toasting our system.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

see screenshot attachment:

This is just plain too much of a hassle: no one should have to go thru this just to share some files on his computer. Help me use linux, not hassle me when I try to use it. someone above suggested to install nautilus-share, where in this distro does it say that there is a program called nautilus-share that might do the trick ? yes, I knew about it from 7.04 before the folder sharing service was added in ubuntu 7.10 but nautilus-share did not function then or now, it just does not accomplish the goal of sharing a folder, it acts like it did, but it does not. Yes, I'm a little bit frustrated because I finally have good networking computer in ubuntu 7.10 and then 8.04 comes out and its gone.

[Patrice Vetsel (vetsel-patrice)]

I close this bug, because :
"share folder" does not appear -> is resolved in installed by default on all desktop installation.

For other problem, please open other bug.

Your problem (Thomas Boutell ->'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied ) is Bug #212098

I point you that you can't share folders that you are not owner (no ntfs partitions, no usb external disk/stick...)

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

for crying out loud, I was trying to share a folder in my home directory ! I am god for my home folder, I would expect to have permissions to do anything I want for folders in my home folder.

Second, if it was resolved I would not have just reported it one hour ago. file and folder sharing DOES NOT work on a fresh install of hardy heron 8.04 that was just released yesterday. at least test before you close a bug report.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

I strongly suggest you understand a bug before you just close it. if it was fixed, I would not have reported the bug an hour ago for a fresh install of the newly released hardy heron.

[Patrice Vetsel (vetsel-patrice)]

@Gene : as said, this bug, reported by Thomas Boutell on 2008-04-11, talk about ""share folder" does not appear" because he was using a beta version of Hardy and nautilus-share was not installed. Now it's installed by default. So this bug is closed.

Also, as said, one bug is for one problem. Here is not a forum discussion.

Again, as said, your problem (reported 2hours ago) is another bug : Bug #212098 Go there to see explanations and explications.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

My statement is that the folder sharing service that WAS installed by default in ubuntu 7.10 has been removed from hardy 8.04. The bug you are trying to get me to go look at does not apply to this bug. I have installed 2 copies of the final release of hardy heron and this service that existed in 7.10 ( see the screen shot ) DOES NOT exist in hardy heron as you seem to think. This folder sharing service that used to appear in ubuntu 7.10 also allowed me to set MY workgroup to a name I want it to be, not the one that the dev decide my workgroup should be.

I am aware that this is not a forum, I do not use forums, I am trying to communicate with ubuntu devs, not the users of ubuntu.

You say that sharing was present in the final release but I cannot see any place that lets me choose windows share or NFS share choice when sharing nor do I see where to set my own workgroup name.

Rather than close a bug report as invalid, why not try to investigate with me and give directions to where you think I can find the service so I can share my folders. you do not try to advise how to work around until fix is released so that I can share files while I am waiting for fix.

[Patrice Vetsel (vetsel-patrice)]

Indeed shares-admin has been removed from menu and right click menu (but it still here for compatibility: Alt+F2->shares-admin).
For Hardy, decision have been taken by ubuntu team to not use shares-amin (bugued/not maintained upstream/security problem…), now nautilus-share is the default tool to use.

We can not set yet the workgroup name : Bug #214720

"You say that sharing was present in the final release but I cannot see any place that lets me choose windows share or NFS share choice when sharing nor do I see where to set my own workgroup name." -> shares-admin is hidden, now nautilus-share is the default tool.

How to share a folder :
right click -> share
On first use, nautilus-share ask to install share services, accept this (samba and libpam-smbpass are installed).
Due to Bug #212098 you must logout/login (or reboot) to ensure that you are on sambashare group and that your samba password is synced with your user password.
After reboot, you can now login and right click->share and use the tool.

If you create a new user, make sure that you put it on sambashare group.

BEWARE that :
you can not share a folder naming it with your user name (samba restrictions)
you can not share ntfs/vfat partitions, or just folders that your are not the owner (security restriction)

[gooty14 (gooty-14)]

Anyone know abotu this!
When i am plug external drive to computer i'm cannot open Thai folder in external drive because Thai folder do not appear in the Nautilus file browser.
Plz help for this problem.

[sonicsteve (sonic-yfc)]

I am the owner of a folder called /media/disk I ran sudo chown steve /media/disk Under properties it shows user steve as the owner but I still can't share it.

[Alecz20 (alexguzu)]

If you get the error about Permission Denied,
CODE:
'net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied

Open /etc/samba/smb.conf and add:

 usershare owner only = False

Save, and re-login. It should work

[PeterNZ (peter-allmedia)]

Frankly this is pathetic. I have combed these sites for two days now simply trying to share a folder in 8.04 LTS and it's a needle in the haystack looking for advice. I've installed Nautilus Share (doesn't work, simply resets - after reboot). Installed Samba (which is overkill anyway) and which I don't really understand. Why can you not share your files with other users on the same authentication system without having to jump through a million hoops? It should be a right click - select user -done! Its stupid stuff like this that makes people return to XP.

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Wednesday 25,November,2009 06:25 PM, PeterNZ wrote:
> Frankly this is pathetic. I have combed these sites for two days now
> simply trying to share a folder in 8.04 LTS and it's a needle in the
> haystack looking for advice.
Frankly speaking, it's quite a straightforward task so most people get it
without needing to search for advice. Advice generally appears for stuff that's
complex, and hence you don't find much advice for something as simple as this.

> I've installed Nautilus Share (doesn't work, simply resets - after reboot).
> Installed Samba (which is overkill anyway) and which I don't really
> understand.
No it isn't overkill. Nautilus Share is a plugin for Nautilus which allows you
to create Samba shares by right clicking on folders. Samba is what actually
hosts those shares and allows people to connect to it. It isn't installed by
default because sharing folders isn't something everybody does, and Samba is
quite big, afaik.

> Why can you not share your files with other users on the same
> authentication system without having to jump through a million hoops? It
> should be a right click - select user -done!
It is that simple. You right click on a folder, click on properties, go to the
"Share" tab, click the checkbox that says "Share this folder", enter a share
name and it's done. And maybe check a few other checkboxes if that's what you
want on the share dialog.

After that, Windows XP computers and other Ubuntu computers *should* be able to
see the share. However, many Windows XP computers *suck* badly at detecting
other computers on the network, so it can take some time for the share to
appear, or not at all. The best way is to get your IP address and access it as
"\\<ip address>\sharename" from Windows computers or "smb://<ip
address>/sharename" on Ubuntu and other *nixes like Fedora, Mac, etc.

> Its stupid stuff like this that makes people return to XP.
Thank you for expressing your comments in such a hostile manner. It's stupid
things like this that really warms my heart (read: makes my blood boil).

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

@PeterNZ,

You need to run it as sudo to get changes to stick or survive after reboot. I had exactly the same experience as you did and stumbled on the solution after much anger and frustration. I am a kindred soul in this matter. Apparently it is so second nature to this other twit that responded, that he does not even know he is doing things to fix the problem you describe. Try running it with SU or SUDO.

@Chow Loong Jin
You are an ARSE !!! tell me how anything you responded to eve came close to helping the guy ??? Just because YO?U understand why something works or does not work does not mean it is clear to the rest of the users ! Peter is 100% correct when he says this is why Linux does not catch on. because things just do not work, and testing is doing a horrible job of basic functionality. I had exactly the same problem as did this guy and you are in point of fact wrong, it did not work as you described trying to share folders when 8.04 was released! I hope your blood boils dry so that other people do not have to experience your kind of attitude again when trying to point out that Linux SHOULD have basic functionality tested and working BEFORE you release it to the public and before you decide to make changes to content or enhancements.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

@Chow Loong Jin

Oh, and one more thing, don't bother responding, as I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. Remember , its better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Wednesday 25,November,2009 10:48 PM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> @Chow Loong Jin
>
> Oh, and one more thing, don't bother responding, as I refuse to engage
> in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. Remember , its better to
> remain silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all
> doubt.
>
Disclaimer: I have been regularly using nautilus-share without issue and
patching it as bugs get filed.

If you really do have an issue with it, please file a new bug, with a
descriptive title and equally descriptive description, and if possible a
suggestion on how to make it better. Hence I'm not as "unarmed" as you might
think I am. Either way, my response earlier was mostly due to my annoyance at
the scathing remark made by PeterNZ. Hint: Asking nicely in a support forum
might yield better results than throwing insults around on a bug report.

> You need to run it as sudo to get changes to stick or survive after reboot. I
> had exactly the same experience as you did and stumbled on the solution after
> much anger and frustration. I am a kindred soul in this matter. Apparently it
> is so second nature to this other twit that responded, that he does not even
> know he is doing things to fix the problem you describe. Try running it with
> SU or SUDO.
Run *what* as sudo? Seriously, there weren't any commands to be run. It's all
point and click stuff, as you would have seen in my post had you actually read
it. The samba installation stage is even handled when you check the checkbox
"Share this folder" if it detects that Samba has not been installed.

By the way, I apologize for being a twit and expecting that point-and-click
stuff was straightforward and second nature. Apparently users don't know how to
use a mouse now.

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin (GPG: 0x8F02A411)
Ubuntu Contributing Developer

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

@Chow Loong Jin

Point and click DID NOT WORK YOU MORON !!! Thats why this bug was opened, because people could not share folders.

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Wednesday 25,November,2009 11:34 PM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> @Chow Loong Jin
>
> Point and click DID NOT WORK YOU MORON !!! Thats why this bug was
> opened, because people could not share folders.
>
This gets more amusing. I've now degraded from a twit to a moron. For all your
chivalry of not attacking an "unarmed opponent", you sure have no reservations
about calling people names.

Back on topic, the bug was opened by a user who did not have the nautilus-share
package installed, which was prior to the time when nautilus-share was installed
by default. As mentioned in /usr/share/doc/ubuntu-desktop/changelog.gz, the
change was made to Ubuntu Hardy (8.04), on the 31st of March, 2008, and hence
should be installed by default from Ubuntu 8.04 onwards. Hence it is marked "fix
released".

What PeterNZ was talking about seems to be something entirely different, since
he did mention he has nautilus-share installed. And then you come along,
throwing insults at me in an undignified manner and then contradicting yourself
by saying you don't want to attack "unarmed opponents", and saying something
along the lines of sudo. Incidentally, I still don't get what you were trying to
tell PeterNZ to run as sudo, and you still haven't clarified yourself on that
either.

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin (GPG: 0x8F02A411)
Ubuntu Contributing Developer

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

@Chow Loong Jin

As a senior software architect, I have evidence that I am qualified to pass judgment on less insightful code-slingers. You missed the whole point of the post / bug report. The point was that when released, 8.04 did not allow users to share folders or files. Instead what has happened is that you people that work in the Linux world seem to feel that you are justified in telling the user he/she did not properly report the problem, or that the problem is an end user problem. You have lost sight that that if a user cannot preform a typical function, then maybe just maybe it is a problem with how you did your job, not with the end user. As long as there are people such as yourself working this platform, then Linux will never be widely accepted because you always get yourself lost in the minute details of what the poor dumb user did wrong.

You cannot see the Forrest for the trees, you have your focus on the wrong thing, you need to look at the end user experience and ask your self, what could I have done to make the experience more reliable ? have you done this ? NO, what you did is to transfer the problem to poor user skills, when in reality it was poor software engineering skills.

My friend, just because it works in your mind does not mean it works in the mind of the less skillful or seasoned Linux user. the problem is simple, a user reported a problem sharing files, instead of looking into why the simple act of file sharing was soo complicated, you decided to see what the user did wrong. That is why Linux will never become an accepted OS, because Linux never has the thought that the problem is the code designer, not the end user. I had the very same problem sharing files in 8.04, it was supposed to be a simple process, but not one support person actually looked to see why the act of sharing a file/folder was not working for end users, instead what you all do/did was look at how the end user could do things differently to succeed. !!!!

Its not the end users job to understand how to get around short sighted coders, its the job of coders to make the process more positive and fruitful. STOP telling the end users they are the problem when a coder could have made the simple task of sharing a file simple. Your mind set is wrong.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

"Back on topic, the bug was opened by a user who did not have the nautilus-share package installed,"

In a default install, a fresh format install with a brand new release, why did the user not have the tools installed to share a file ???? The end user was trying to do something simple, why is it that the user was at fault for not having some program installed when he wanted to do a simple task ? Did the OS inform the end user he needed some other package he needed to proceed ? NO. Did the OS inform the end user that the task failed ? NO, it simply proceeded to give the user the impression that all was well when all was not well. You fail miserably here. you just are not capable of seeing that the real issue is that the end user tried to preform a simple task, and no mention was given to the end user that he need to make up for a poor install process that did not install all the tools needed to do a simple little task. Why is it the end users problem that you(Linux) did not install the tools needed to preform a task ?

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

"What PeterNZ was talking about seems to be something entirely different, since"

That is NOT correct ! He is talking about sharing a file ! Its just that simple ! All he wants to do is share a file. YOU got lost ! Address the problem, ALL he wants to do is share a file and all you are doing is trying to make issues out of what he does not do or does not know !

Everyone that posted here is just trying to share a file ! stay focused on that subject, why is this not working ? What happened during install that users were failing when file sharing was attempted ?

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Thursday 26,November,2009 12:35 AM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> @Chow Loong Jin
>
> As a senior software architect,
For a senior software architect, I'd have expected more maturity in your posts
than random tossing of "USE SUDO" (oh hey, you still haven't clarified yourself
on that) and insults.

> I have evidence that I am qualified to pass judgment on less insightful
> code-slingers. You missed the whole point of the post / bug report. The point
> was that when released, 8.04 did not allow users to share folders or files.
On the contrary. When as mentioned in the comments of the bug report, the bug
only existed in the beta versions of Ubuntu 8.04 because nautilus-share was not
installed by default. As of the 8.04 release, nautilus-share *was* installed by
default.

> Instead what has happened is that you people that work in the Linux world
> seem to feel that you are justified in telling the user he/she did not
> properly report the problem, or that the problem is an end user problem.
> You have lost sight that that if a user cannot preform a typical function,
> then maybe just maybe it is a problem with how you did your job, not with the
> end user. As long as there are people such as yourself working this
> platform, then Linux will never be widely accepted because you always get
> yourself lost> in the minute details of what the poor dumb user did wrong.
An improperly reported problem is incredibly hard to decipher as an actual
problem, and if the problem is an end user problem, then here's where it gets
subjective. If you're expecting me to design software for a user who doesn't
know how to click, sorry, I'm just at a loss. Maybe I should first spend a
lifetime working on a brain-computer interface? Then users won't have to use a
mouse, yes.

Either way, the main reason for the way my post was written was the tone in
which the post I replied to was written. If a user is more intent in keeping a
closed mind and threatening to go back to Windows instead of proactively
reporting an issue in a polite and/or neutral tone, there isn't much that I can do.
>
> You cannot see the Forrest for the trees, you have your focus on the
> wrong thing, you need to look at the end user experience and ask your
> self, what could I have done to make the experience more reliable ? have
> you done this ? NO, what you did is to transfer the problem to poor user
> skills, when in reality it was poor software engineering skills.
I see a forest as wood, not trees. Perhaps you're saying that I'm looking too
deep? But I think this is off topic. If it was poor software engineering skills,
I'd expect a more experienced person (Hey, you seem to be claiming to be a
senior software architect who has better insight than I do) to come up with a
better solution. We do function as a community after all. Developers write
software to scratch their own itch, and when it works well, we like to share it
with other people. We also like to receive input from our users because then we
can improve something which we have put our own sweat and blood into. Hence FOSS
is born. What we don't like is people who just come in, yell about how it sucks
and all, but not provide specific exam...

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Thursday 26,November,2009 01:02 AM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> "What PeterNZ was talking about seems to be something entirely
> different, since"
>
> That is NOT correct ! He is talking about sharing a file ! Its just that
> simple ! All he wants to do is share a file. YOU got lost ! Address the
> problem, ALL he wants to do is share a file and all you are doing is
> trying to make issues out of what he does not do or does not know !
He was talking about sharing a file. The original bug was talking about the
"share folder" option missing from the context menu, i.e. the nautilus-share
plugin was not installed. YOU are the one who got lost. Please stop trying to
mislead everyone else.

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin (GPG: 0x8F02A411)
Ubuntu Contributing Developer

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Thursday 26,November,2009 12:51 AM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> "Back on topic, the bug was opened by a user who did not have the
> nautilus-share package installed,"
>
> In a default install, a fresh format install with a brand new release,
> why did the user not have the tools installed to share a file ????
I've been trying to tell you for the past few posts.... nautilus-share *is*
installed by default on Ubuntu releases, from 8.04 upwards, and it prompts the
user to install Samba automatically when the user attempts to share a folder for
the first time, using a nice and user-friendly yes/no dialog. Or was it
OK/Cancel, I can't remember which.

> [...]
I'll refrain from commenting on this since it's irrelevant. By the way, please
do not equate me with "Linux". I am a human being. Linux is a kernel. And my
name, well it's in my signature.

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin (GPG: 0x8F02A411)
Ubuntu Contributing Developer

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

@Chow Loong Jin

"What we don't like is people who just come in, yell about how it sucks and all, but not provide specific exam..."

I have no problem with that statement, and actually agree that some end users could do a better job of expressing themselves. There does seem to be some presumed rights on the end users expectations. However, This still does not address the point I made, why get so lost in the details of what the end user did wrong ? The point of this post/ bug report is still that users are not able to share files. Its not what the user did wrong, its what the coder did wrong. Dependencies are not being checked. Stop telling the user he did something wrong or should have done something different when files sharing should have worked out of the box with no problems at all. It did not work out of the box, Thats why I jumped in to this.

I will be the very first to jump in and say thank you for scratching your itch and provide FREE code for this platform. However, in your code, would you at least check to see that dependencies are met ?

I am not going to go back to 8.04 to see which command I HAD to run under a terminal to get file sharing to work correctly, it did not work, I moved on to a different release that works out of the box.

[Gene Caldwell (gene-caldwell)]

PS: I saw nothing wrong with what PeterNZ wrote, He expressed very well his frustration at the failure of getting a simple task to work, you really needed to look at the big picture of what he was saying, not the details of what he said. I still believe I can learn from anyone and everyone, your response to him strongly suggests that you cannot. That is why I jumped in. If you are going to freely donate code to the free software concept, at least check your dependencies, and make sure your code has the end user experience in mind. I worked long and hard to get out of your mind set, blame the end user for no knowing how to use your code. You really need to switch to the thought that no news is good news. if you get no feed back then everything is working and no one is noticing, and that is good ! When a user is using your code and has no complaint, that is the holy grail !!!!

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

On Thursday 26,November,2009 01:24 AM, Gene Caldwell wrote:
> @Chow Loong Jin
>
> "What we don't like is people who just come in, yell about how it sucks
> and all, but not provide specific exam..."
>
> I have no problem with that statement, and actually agree that some end
> users could do a better job of expressing themselves. There does seem to
> be some presumed rights on the end users expectations. However, This
> still does not address the point I made, why get so lost in the details
> of what the end user did wrong ? The point of this post/ bug report is
> still that users are not able to share files. Its not what the user did
> wrong, its what the coder did wrong. Dependencies are not being checked.
> Stop telling the user he did something wrong or should have done
> something different when files sharing should have worked out of the box
> with no problems at all. It did not work out of the box, Thats why I
> jumped in to this.
Dependencies? As in nautilus-share depending on samba? Actually it does, as I
mentioned in my previous post. And I didn't say that the user did something
wrong, but instead I pointed the most straight-forward way you could have done
it, which incidentally the average user would have chosen immediately.
>
> I will be the very first to jump in and say thank you for scratching
> your itch and provide FREE code for this platform. However, in your
> code, would you at least check to see that dependencies are met ?
The original nautilus-share plugin expects that samba be installed. The
nautilus-share in Ubuntu has been patched to automatically install samba, as I'd
mentioned above, and before that even.
>
> I am not going to go back to 8.04 to see which command I HAD to run
> under a terminal to get file sharing to work correctly, it did not work,
> I moved on to a different release that works out of the box.
Come to think of it, I only picked up nautilus-share after 8.10's release,
though I'm pretty sure it did work well in the aspect PeterNZ was talking about
already. For one, samba auto-installation patch was already in the
nautilus-share package prior to me entering. I merely tidied it up, and fixed a
segfault or two.

--
Kind regards,
Chow Loong Jin (GPG: 0x8F02A411)
Ubuntu Contributing Developer

[pau_sehay (pauhayes)]

I have just installed this ubuntu 8.04 LTS and I am having this problem. I am new to UBUNTU and would really appreciate some help. To the best of my knowledge I think I am following directions correctly.

I do the following:
System / administration / synaptic package manager
select samba
mark for complete removal

Apply

Afterwards I go to:
Places / home folder.
I select the folder "untitled" (my folder is really called that)
Rt mouse click
sharing options

Select share this folder. (I understand this to be active due to the fact that there is a check box marked and a message appears) "sharing service not installed...."

I select install service

Samba is installed...

Changes applied. I select "Restart Session"

Pc restarts... I log back in.

I go to:
Places / home folder.
I select the folder "untitled"
Rt mouse click
sharing options

I get the net user returned error 255.

please can someone help me?

thx.

Pau

[pau_sehay (pauhayes)]

I got this off another bug report.... This helped.

- goto system>administration>users and groups
- Unlock
- click on Manage Groups
- select sambashare
- click Properties
- unselect and select your user
- click OK

Now I can share the files.

thx for caring.