NAME

chown − change owner

SYNOPSIS

chown [ −Rf ] owner[.group] file ... 

DESCRIPTION

Chown changes the owner of the files to owner. The owner may be either a decimal UID or a login name found in the password file. An optional group may also be specified. The group may be either a decimal GID or a group name found in the group-ID file.

Only the super-user can change owner, in order to simplify accounting procedures.  No errors, except for usage errors, are reported when the −f (force) option is given. 

When the −R option is given, chown recursively descends its directory arguments setting the specified owner.  When symbolic links are encountered, their ownership is changed, but they are not traversed. 

SEE ALSO

chgrp(1), chown(2)

Sprite version 1.0  —  April 21, 1988