bsd man page for chown

CHOWN(8)						      System Manager's Manual							  CHOWN(8)

NAME
       chown - change owner

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/sbin/chown [ -f -R ] owner[.group] file ...

DESCRIPTION
       Chown  changes  the  owner  of  the  files to owner.  The owner may be either a decimal UID or a login name found in the password file.	An
       optional group may also be specified.  The group may be either a decimal GID or a group name found in the group-ID file.

       Only the super-user can change owner, in order to simplify accounting procedures.  No errors are reported when the  -f  (force)	option	is
       given.

       When  the  -R  option  is  given,  chown recursively descends its directory arguments setting the specified owner.  When symbolic links are
       encountered, their ownership is changed, but they are not traversed.

FILES
       /etc/passwd

SEE ALSO
       chgrp(1), chown(2), passwd(5), group(5)

4th Berkeley Distribution					   May 22, 1986 							  CHOWN(8)