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?

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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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