Makes the permissions of file2 the same as file1 $ chmod --reference file1 file2 Ex: arul@arul-desktop:~$ ls -ll drwxr-xr-x 1 arul arul 134 2011-01-16 02:09 ruby-samples drwx------ 1 arul arul 96 2011-02-19 01:43 python-ex arul@arul-desktop:~$ chmod --reference ruby-samples/ python-ex drwxr-xr-x 1 arul arul 134 2011-01-16 02:09 ruby-samples drwxr-xr-x 1 arul arul 96 2011-02-19 01:43 python-ex -- Warm Regards, Tha.Suresh My experiences with Linux: http://thasulinux.wordpress.com