Difficulty in copying into the system files

[music]

Please help - im going crazy.
I am trying to copy a directory of cursors from Downloads to /usr/share/icons
I have tried Dolphin File manager, I have tried termina cp -r /home/myplace/Downloads/directory /usr/share/icons.
I installed another File Manager and still cannot copy. Its probably a simple command but I cant find it.
Have been using Linux Mint for 4 years now and did that quite easily.
Please help.

╭─music@music in ~ took 14s
 ╰─λ inxi -Fza
System:    Kernel: 5.12.12-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
           root=UUID=efa66c3f-7cb7-4a4a-b1dc-ecb20c4ad7db rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash
           rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1
           loglevel=3
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.3 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
           Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: N/A serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5.12
           date: 11/10/2018
CPU:       Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-8350U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake
           note: check family: 6 model-id: 8E (142) stepping: A (10) microcode: EA cache:
           L2: 6 MiB
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 30399
           Speed: 3600 MHz min/max: 400/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3600 2: 3600 3: 3590
           4: 3600 5: 3601 6: 3600 7: 3600 8: 3600
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
           Type: spec_store_bypass
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
           STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
           Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0
           chip-ID: 8086:5917 class-ID: 0300
           Device-2: Logitech Webcam C310 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-6:3
           chip-ID: 046d:081b class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: loaded: intel
           unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0 screens: 1
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2")
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9")
           Monitor-1: HDMI1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 70 size: 700x390mm (27.6x15.4")
           diag: 801mm (31.5")
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.1.4
           direct render: Yes
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
           alternate: snd_soc_skl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71 class-ID: 0403
           Device-2: Logitech Webcam C310 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-6:3
           chip-ID: 046d:081b class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.12.12-zen1-1-zen running: yes
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 0.125.0 running: no
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: no
           Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.31 running: yes
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169
           v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
           IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On
           driver: ath9k v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:0034 class-ID: 0280
           IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Device-3: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter type: USB driver: r8152
           bus-ID: 2-1.1:4 chip-ID: 0bda:8153 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
           IF: enp0s20f0u1u1 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth: Device-1: Toshiba Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
           bus-ID: 1-9:7 chip-ID: 0930:021c class-ID: e001
           Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 2.97 TiB used: 1.36 TiB (45.8%)
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
           ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Indilinx model: IND-S3MP 256G size: 238.47 GiB
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: SSD
           serial: <filter> rev: B1T2 scheme: GPT
           ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Backup+ SL
           size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B serial: <filter>
           rev: 0143 scheme: MBR
           ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Western Digital
           model: WD Elements 10B8 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
           serial: <filter> rev: 1012 scheme: MBR
           ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Blade
           size: 7.36 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B serial: <filter> rev: 1.27
           scheme: MBR
           SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 97.87 GiB size: 97.87 GiB (100.00%) used: 14.81 GiB (15.1%)
           fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%) used: 7.1 MiB (1.4%)
           fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
           ID-3: /home raw-size: 97.87 GiB size: 97.87 GiB (100.00%) used: 14.81 GiB (15.1%)
           fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
           ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 97.87 GiB size: 97.87 GiB (100.00%) used: 14.81 GiB (15.1%)
           fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
           ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 97.87 GiB size: 97.87 GiB (100.00%) used: 14.81 GiB (15.1%)
           fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 75 (default 100)
           ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 168.6 MiB (17.4%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram0
           ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 160 MiB (16.5%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram1
           ID-3: swap-3 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 156.2 MiB (16.1%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram2
           ID-4: swap-4 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 171.7 MiB (17.7%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram3
           ID-5: swap-5 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 163.9 MiB (16.9%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram4
           ID-6: swap-6 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 166.1 MiB (17.2%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram5
           ID-7: swap-7 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 165.1 MiB (17.1%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram6
           ID-8: swap-8 type: zram size: 967.6 MiB used: 160.3 MiB (16.6%) priority: 32767
           dev: /dev/zram7
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 39.5 C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:      Processes: 304 Uptime: 3h 36m wakeups: 0 Memory: 7.56 GiB used: 4.37 GiB (57.8%)
           Init: systemd v: 249 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 12.0.1 Packages:
           pacman: 1391 lib: 347 Shell: fish v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.8
           running-in: alacritty inxi: 3.3.05

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please
and post

inxi -Fza

as text!

Even if you personally think it is unnecessary.

[filo]

Have you tried with sudo?

[dalto]

@music

I am trying to copy a directory of cursors from Downloads to /usr/share/icons

It would be better not to copy files to a system location like that. An alternative solution is to copy the files to ~/.local/share/icons which you should be able to write to normally.

If the directory doesn’t exist, create it with:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/icons

[petsam]

@music

Its probably a simple command but I cant find it.

You will never learn how-to-linux without reading manuals.

man cp

@music

Have been using Linux Mint for 4 years now and did that quite easily.

This is Sparta Archlinux neighborhood, where you should know what you are doing. Copy/paste terminal commands from the webs does not work here and we are against spoon feeding the users for common Linux usage. Try harder, please.

[music]

THanks for the reply.
Yes copying there was easy. I was copying a folder of themed cursors. But when I try to change the cursor theme, Nothing shows up under the heading. Even the other folder was empty (okay, there were some hidden files) but I could not change my cursor theme.

When I was fiddling with garuda, I managed to copy the folder into the one I previously mentioned and then the cursor theme showed.

Any advice, insight. Thanks

[music]

YEah I get Sparta, haha thx.
I am fairly well fed with terminal commands (UBUNTU and Mint for the last 6 years) and now want more sparta.
Having said that, I still have not been able to copy into the usr/share folder.
I did a work around tho - I booted into mint and copied from there as root, and then rebooted - voila it now works. BUT I still cannot copy. I will spend time reading the man so I dont have probems in future.
Thanks and regards.

[tbg]

If the terminal isn't doing it for you try Midnight Commander (mc). It is a dual pane TUI file manager reminiscent of Norton Commander (for those born before there was an internet). Its stock skins are ugly as sin but you can install other skins to make it much nicer looking.

It is a great program that can handle root file operations (unlike Dolphin). As it is so visually distinct from Dolphin there is no real danger of forgetting you are operating as root and causing havoc for that reason.