CHOWN(8) CHOWN(8) NAME chown - change owner SYNOPSIS /etc/chown [ -f -R ] 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 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 encounā tered, their ownership is changed, but they are not traversed. FILES /etc/passwd SEE ALSO chgrp(1), chown(2), passwd(5), group(5) 4th Berkeley Distribution May 22, 1986 CHOWN(8)