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I have some folders with pictures and videos that I would like my other family members be able to view. I have added these folders to the family group, like this:

chgrp -R family shared_pictures/

The group permissions are set to +rx for the folders and +r for the files inside the folders. The family members have already been added to the family group. However when they try to access the folders/files, they get a "operation not permitted error". I think it has to do with the fact that the permssions of my my home folder are set like this:

drwxr-x--- 163 mario mario 12288 2012-03-21 07:50 /home/mario

So 'other' users have no permissions at all (no directory content viewing, etc).

My question: is it possible to allow access to some subdirectories only and leave my home directory permissions as is? Or is my only option to open my home directory up for others with +rx? (because when I do this it works, but now anyone can view the contents in my home dir, which is not what I want)

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You might want to look at bindfs. – Dan D. Mar 21 '12 at 7:34
folders must have the r and x bit to access them. The x bit for folders does not mean execute but means you are able to access the folder. – l1zard Mar 21 '12 at 12:06
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You need to set "x" bit (o+x) for all parent directories. Do not add "r" bit which let them browse your directory contents – Cougar Mar 22 '12 at 8:42
@Cougar I think this might be what I was looking for! – MarioJC Mar 22 '12 at 10:57

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Create the directory somewhere else (/opt/, for example) and link it symbolically into your home for convenience.

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Creating user data directories under /opt would be against FHS. – l1zard Mar 21 '12 at 12:10
@l1zard: And what does the FHS suggest? – user unknown Mar 21 '12 at 12:59

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