The find command can be used to search for files and directories that match certain criteria, such as ownership, permissions, size, type, name, etc. The syntax of the find command is:
find [options] [path...] [expression]
The options can modify the behavior of the find command, such as how to handle symbolic links, how to optimize the search, or how to enable debugging. The path argument specifies the starting point of the search, which can be one or more directories. The expression argument consists of one or more tests, actions, and operators that are applied to each file or directory that is found.
The -user test matches files or directories that are owned by a given user. The user can be specified by name or by numeric user ID (UID). The -print action prints the full file name of the matching file or directory on the standard output, followed by a newline. If no action is specified, -print is assumed by default.
Therefore, to list all files and directories within the /tmp/ directory and its subdirectories which are owned by the user root, we can use either of the following commands:
Both commands will search recursively from the /tmp/ directory and print the full file names of the files or directories that are owned by the user root. The -print action is optional in this case, since it is the default action.
The other commands are incorrect for the following reasons:
find -path /tmp -uid root : The -path test matches files or directories whose full file name matches the given pattern. This command will not search recursively from the /tmp/ directory, but only match files or directories whose name is exactly /tmp. The -uid test is equivalent to the -user test, but it requires a numeric UID instead of a user name. This command will not match any files or directories, unless there is a file or directory named /tmp that is owned by the user with UID root (which is usually 0).
find -path /tmp -user root -print : This command has the same problem as the previous one. It will not search recursively from the /tmp/ directory, but only match files or directories whose name is exactly /tmp and are owned by the user root. This command will not match any files or directories, unless there is a file or directory named /tmp that is owned by the user root.
find /tmp -uid root -print : This command will search recursively from the /tmp/ directory, but it will use the -uid test instead of the -user test. The -uid test requires a numeric UID instead of a user name. This command will match files or directories that are owned by the user with UID root (which is usually 0), but it will not match files or directories that are owned by other users who have the same user name as root (such as root2 or root3).
References:
find(1) - Linux manual page - man7.org
How to Use the find Command in Linux - How-To Geek
find command in Linux with examples - GeeksforGeeks
find | Microsoft Learn
Linux Find Command Help and Examples - Computer Hope
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