Wrong message when sharing a root-owned folder

[Richard Smith]

Binary package hint: nautilus-share

Ubuntu 8.04.1
nautilus-share 0.7.2-0ubuntu5
When a user with admin/sharing privileges attempts to share a root-owned folder (eg /shared) he gets the message:
"net usershare add: cannot share path/shared as we are restricted to only sharing directories we own"
The message suggests we ask admin to add "usershare owner only = False" to smb.conf.
Throwing security away just to share 1 folder on 1 occasion? - Not a good idea.
What it should do is put up a sudo-password box and share the folder.
Failing that, the message should suggest "gksudo nautilus" to run nautilus as root to share the folder.

[Old_Soldier (charles.davis)]

I agree that the message is ambiguous and can lead to a major security breach if a user doesn't understand the implications of the change in smb.conf

[Adam Honse (calcprogrammer1)]

I don't see why the default smb.conf shouldn't have this line. In Windows, the user can share any folder he/she wants by right clicking and sharing. The same should apply to Ubuntu. Display a warning about how sharing lowers security and allow the user to continue if they understand the risk. Ideally, the user should NEVER have to drop into terminal to change simple stuff like sharing. I have all my documents, music, etc on a separate drive, so I can't share due to this pointless and annoying block. The perfect Ubuntu would allow the user to disable his/her password entirely to avoid the Vista-UAC style password popups.

[Chow Loong Jin (hyperair)]

The message comes from /usr/bin/net, which belongs to samba.