Why can't I paste anything under the /usr/ folder?

Question

I just wanted to install a theme for the start up screen and I have to copy some files over here to /usr/share/kde4/apps/ksplash/Themes/.

But the answer I get is:

Access denied. Could not write to /usr/share/kde4/apps/ksplash/Themes/

What do I have to do? I am a new user.

Solution 1

Mallik is right. You don't own this directory, since it is a system-directory and not a user-directory, like /home/Username, where you can copy/paste files as you wish!

Please don't change the root permission of any system-directory permanently, since your system manages on its own and you can only break it that way. Instead open Terminal and use sudo before your command to copy cp, or move mv files/folders.

Put the folder you want to copy (I call it myNewTheme) on your desktop!

Your command should be as followed: (you need to replace the path/dir and name of the folder you want to copy/move):

sudo cp -r /home/Username/Desktop/myNewTheme /usr/share/kde4/apps/ksplash/Themes/

The -r stands for recursive, since it is a folder (parent), with sub-folders/files (children) and therefore recursion is mandatory!!

Solution 2

A regular/normal user usually will not have write access to /usr directory. You would need super user permissions to do so. Please login as root and you could do that.

Solution 3

I had a similar problem. Here is what worked:

1. Instead of opening Files as usual, run sudo nautilus in the terminal to open the file manager with super user privileges.
2. Be careful! Now you will be able to copy and paste files without errors.

See Permission denied to copy or paste files in the system folders

Comments

[Hamman Samuel]

On the command-line, use gksudo name-of-file-manager, it will prompt you for your password and open the folder as super admin. Then you can copy-paste normally. E.g. on Lubuntu, I used gksudo pcmanfm Source

[Soren A]

Don't ever log in as root !!! Use sudo to gain elevated rights.

[Zanna]

perhaps when you say "log in as root", you mean, start a root shell, by running a command such as sudo -i and then launching a file browser, for example by running nautilus and then, after doing what you need to do and closing the file browser, exit the root shell? That's a pretty good suggestion. Actually logging in as root is overkill for this task, and is to some extent difficult on Ubuntu. In particular, running the entire graphical shell as root requires a lot of tinkering and is never really warranted.