OS X not allowing me to rename a folder

Question

Can anyone thing of a reason why OS X would not allow me to do this? I seem to have total permissions...

new-host-4:Desktop michael$ whoami
michael
new-host-4:Desktop michael$ ls -ltdr 2008_12_12/
drwxrwxrwx+ 5 michael  wheel  170 Mar 28 18:23 2008_12_12/
new-host-4:Desktop michael$ mv 2008_12_12/ foo
mv: rename 2008_12_12/ to foo: Permission denied
new-host-4:Desktop michael$ 

Thanks! /YGA

Answer 1

1) Renaming a file is considered a modification of the directory it is in. What does...

ls -lde .

...tell you about your ability to modify the directory you're in (apparently "Destkop")?

2) There could already be a "foo" in the directory you're in, and you might not have privileges to replace it. What does...

ls -lde foo

...tell you?

3) The "+" at the end of the permissions for "2008_12_12/" means it has an ACL (Access Control List == additional permissions/restrictions) attached. What does...

ls -lde 2008_12_12

...tell you?

Answer 2

In OSX depending on where the directory is located you need to sudo the operation. I think if it's outside your home directory (/Users/[user] or ~), it requires sudo.