Ubuntu should, in some way, handle Windows rules for file names on an NTFS partition

http://ntfs-3g.org/support.html#posixfilenames2

From your link: "[...] all characters are allowed except '/' and '\0'. This is perfectly legal on Windows, though some application may get confused.".

"Perfectly legal" is stupidly false. Just try to create a file with "?" for example, and Windows ITSELF will deny it, saying that you CAN'T give a file name with characters \/:*?"<>|. When you find a file with these chars, created on Ubuntu, Windows ITSELF can't rename it. In general, it means problems.

Actually I'm not aware about what package is "affected", maybe it's not ntfs-3g according to my suggestion that is not about denying but warning, and having a tool to help about it.

Well, it seems to be stupidly false for you because you didn't made the effort to understand what NTFS namespaces are and how file system drivers and applications use them.

It __IS__ possible to create files with all the characters you mentioned on Windows and it __IS__ possible to read/rename all these files on Windows which were created on Linux. This just __DEPENDS_ON__ how a given Windows application implemented file handling.

You're beating a dead horse because the real problem is not on the Linux but on the Windows side. You're arguing introducing a silliness on Linux instead of you would urge Windows developers to fix their broken softwares which they could very easily done by properly prefixing filenames.

Huh? A given Windows Application? Hrrrm, EXPLORER.EXE for example?

There's no problem with waring the user some characters could not be well-recognized by "other operation systems".

Hope someone adds the feature. Bye.

Since is a know issue of ntfs-3g (see the link pasted by Szabolcs Szakacsits) and since this is a problem of Windows I close this bug.

Explorer is long known to be broken. This is not surprising because Microsoft is very much interested NOT to interoperate well with other systems on this level to lock users to their platform.

You also still don't seem to understand that the only Windows softwares which can't handle such filenames are the ones which DO NOT WANT to handle them.

Such a filename is perfectly legal in most defined standards.

This is a Windows bug... shame Microsoft don't let you report them!

Then why NTFS itself allow it? Isn't it a Microsoft technology?

Then why NTFS itself allow it? Isn't it a Microsoft technology?

And: if certain kind of file system support multiple schemes for filenames, then applications which operate over this filesystem should warn about this, BECAUSE there's no guarantee that another system would use the SAME namespace, when MULTIPLE namespaces are supported by the reffered filesystem. Understand now?

On IRC people told me that this could be considered not as a bug but a suggestion, but I don't know how to change things here. Importance field is not editable.

The goal of the ntfs-3g implementation in Ubuntu is interoperability with Windows, in a "Just Works" sort of way. Despite the previously argued semantics on the wrongfulness of Windows' behavior here, Ubuntu needs to be sure it's writing kosher filenames on NTFS volumes. We shouldn't be trying to punish those who need to dual-boot.

Would such a task go to Nautilus?

> On IRC people told me that this could be considered not as a bug but a suggestion, but I don't know how to change things here. Importance field is not editable.
I mark this as Wishlist so, but I don't confirm it.

Please consider Importance = Wishlist as in package ntfs-config

The comment above is about 'Ubuntu' affects line. Thank you Andrea.

This does not affects Ubuntu itself. I cannot keep it open. I marked wishlist the ntfs-config package which is the right bug.

Stephen: The problem is not Windows but certain Windows softwares which intentionally ignore such files. NTFS-3G doesn't create files in the POSIX namespace to annoy people. Actually it's just the opposite! This way things can "Just Work" on Linux, Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenSolaris, etc. It is for maximum interoperability what all these OSes support on the file system level, including the Windows operating system.

If the driver would create files in a limited namespace then tremendous amount of Linux softwares would break mysteriously, occasionally with data loss. That would be way much worse than the fake error messages from some broken Windows softwares which could be easily fixed.

Bye, Szaka

==
NTFS-3G Lead Developer: http://ntfs-3g.org

@Andrea: actually I'm comfused about which package the suggestion applies.

@Szabolcs: do you classify a CORE component like explorer.exe as only a "certain" Windows software? And mainly, who here is talking about REMOVING Posix from ntfs-3g? I'm talking about the user to be FREE to DECIDE which kind of namespace he/she wants to use on his/her NTFS partition. There's nothing wrong with this.

It looks like there's a ntfs-3g mount option windows_names: http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-manual.

I think Ubuntu should use it by default or allow the user to toggle this graphically.

ntfs-3g have replaced that unmaintained ntfs-config; so closing that old report.