explain_chown_or_die(3)

💖 explain_chown_or_die(3) — bestie edition 💖

okay so this one lives in the Library Functions Manual, and it's literally called explain_chown_or_die. yes the name is dramatic. no it is not joking. 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

explain_chown_or_die — change ownership of a file and report errors 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <libexplain/chown.h>
void explain_chown_or_die(const char *pathname, int owner, int group);

like. that's the whole entrance. short. iconic. periodt. ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so explain_chown_or_die is the function you call when you want to run the chown(2) system call, except — and this is the whole personality — if it fails, it doesn't just silently ghost you. nope. it prints an explanation to stderr, and that explanation comes from explain_chown(3), and then the process terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). so yeah. it's giving "we die with receipts." 😭💀

the vibe it's meant to be used in is basically this:

explain_chown_or_die(pathname, owner, group);

and now the arguments, one by one, no skipping bestie:

• pathname — the pathname, exactly as to be passed to the chown(2) system call. like, exactly. don't get cute with it. 🎀
• owner — the owner, exactly as to be passed to the chown(2) system call.
• group — the group, exactly as to be passed to the chown(2) system call.

Returns:

This function only returns on success. On failure, prints an explanation and exits. 🔥

so if it comes back to you at all, that's a win. if it doesn't come back… it's not being rude, it just called exit(EXIT_FAILURE) on the way out. 💅

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• chown(2) — change ownership of a file
• explain_chown(3) — explain chown(2) errors
• exit(2) — terminate the calling process

go read those too. iykyk. 📚✨

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🌈 COPYRIGHT 🌈

all the legal glitter, verbatim:

• libexplain version 1.4
• Copyright (C) 2008 Peter Miller

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and that's the page bestie!! 💖 this little fairy of a manpage is explain_chown_or_die(3) from libexplain version 1.4, with Copyright (C) 2008 Peter Miller — mwah, sending you off with all the ownership-changing energy you deserve 🧚🌸💜