Bug#510564: this should not be grave

[Tim Richardson]

The original launchpad report doesn't mention data loss, but it does
indicate a bug in Nautilus which causes 'inconvenience'. However,
Windows users probably have similar but not identical problems.

According to that report
1. NTFS is case-sensitive, so the underlying file system is case
sensitive.
2. below, an interesting part of the launchpad entry:


> 
> 1) Mount a remote NTFS Windows share (I am using CIFS at /etc/fstab).
> 2) Create a file named 123.abc in this volume (touch, gedit,
> whatever).
> 3) Open Nautilus and select the mounted volume in the left panel.
> 4) In the right panel, locate the file you have just created in Step
> 2.
> 5) Right click over the file and select "rename". Try to rename it to
> "123.ABC".
> 
> Nautilus will tell you there already is a file with that name, which
> is not true because the mounted volume is not FAT but NTFS (case
> sensitive).
> 
> Alternatively, use Nautilus to access the NTFS share using a "smb://"
> address and try to perform Steps 4 and 5: It will work.
> 
> Regards,
> Effenberg
> 
> 

The Nautilus bug is shared by Windows apps, apparently:

>From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/100625


> In NTFS, you can create unique file names, stored in the same
> directory, that differ only in case. For example, the following
> filenames can coexist in one directory on an NTFS volume: 
> CASE.TXT
> case.txt
> case.TXT
> However, if you attempt to open one of these files in a Win32
> application, such as Notepad, you would only have access to one of the
> files, regardless of the case of the filename you type in the Open
> File dialog box. 
> 
> Other inconsistencies also exist. The Windows NT Command Prompt and
> File Manager correctly display the names of the files. However, normal
> commands, such as COPY, fail when you attempt to access one or more
> filenames that differ only in case.

This is not a grave bug, I think. I use remotedly mounted Windows drives
frequently at work, and haven't noticed this (I never expect NTFS drives
to be case sensitive).