You will have to go to it as root the get around this problem. It happens from
time to time. Use 'gksu nautilus' or 'kdesu konqueror' to start a file manager
as root, depending if you are in Gnome or KDE. Then you will have to navigate to
your Trash folder. (Remember: when you open Nautilus or Konqueror you will be in
the root home folder and not your own). The Trash folder is a hidden folder in
your home folder for most distros. You will need to change your file manager to
show hidden files to find hidden folders which have a dot before the name.

In Hardy Heron the folder is at: ~/.local/share/Trash/ (where ~ is your home
folder).

this demonstrates what is probably my biggest gripe with Ubuntu (I
can't say Linux as I don't know how other distros handle this) - the
lack of consistency from one version to the next. Why do so many things
have to change - seemingly for no better reason than changing them? In
Gutsy, .Trash is directly under the user's home folder; in Hardy it's in
some obscure location that I would never have found on my own. In
Gutsy, the Boinc manager gets put under Accessories in the menus; Hardy
moves it to System Tools - and that's not the only example; Firestarter
moved from Accessories to System>Administration between Feisty and Gutsy
and there are lots more. Every upgrade I have to change my OOo
templates because the formatting goes all over the place. Shortcut keys
change for no obvious reason (for example, the 'Number of copies'
shortcut key in the OOo Print dialog has changed from Alt-C to Alt-B
with the change to Hardy).

And *don't * get me started on the inconvenience of having to reinstall
all those programs I want to use but that the upgrader doesn't want me
to have!

OK, to be fair, some changes do make sense - having Firestarter under
System>Administration *is* more logical than putting it under
Accessories, for instance - but every six months, I almost have to
relearn my operating system. Microsoft never made me do that; at least
they had the decency to wait a couple of years or more before they
confused the Hell out of me.

For me, it's a major irritation, but I put up with it - for someone
taking their first steps into Linuxland, it could be the deal breaker
that sends them back to Windows.

Linux is a developers haven and there are inevitable changes with
different programmers. I think that makes it interesting not a pain.

Guess you may not have tried Vista, now that does take some thought.

I have not tried Vista and I have absolutely no intention of doing so :-)

The problem is that Ubuntu is not being promoted as a developers'
haven. If it were, I wouldn't gripe about the constant 'tweaking' that
goes on - I would still find it a major PITA, but I wouldn't gripe about
it :-)

No, Ubuntu is being promoted as a mainstream desktop OS, a potential
rival to Windows, as "Linux for human beings" and the developers need to
keep in mind that this project is not being run solely for their
pleasure and convenience - sure, it has to be kept interesting for them,
or they'll jump ship to a project they find more interesting, I'm enough
of a geek to know that, at least. But they have to keep in mind that
the product they are developing is not being aimed at developers or
geeks or people even remotely approaching that level of computing
knowledge and experience - or desire to tweak and play with the system.
Therefore, to change something simply because the developer prefers it
that way rather than changing it because the end user prefers it that
way is a problem.

~/.Trash may not be the most logical place to put the trash can - but a
geek wannabee, like myself, or just a plain Average Joe can find it
easily should the need arise. ~/.local/share/Trash may be more logical
but no novice would ever look for it there (even assuming that they know
about hidden files and how to find them). And the change also means
that a well meaning individual, such as myself, who wants to help his
fellow traveller in Linuxland gives advice that is *wrong*.
Potentially, a very dangerous situation. Add to that the fact that such
changes mean that a knowledge base has to be set up and maintained for
each and every version of Ubuntu and you have a potential minefield.
(Yes, I know the same applies to each and every version of Windows - but
they don't come along at the rate of two each year, do they?)

And just why do my OOo templates (not actual templates in the strict
meaning of the word; they're actually plain old text documents which I
copy-cut-and-paste in) change with every upgrade? I'm using the same
fonts, the same font sizes, the same line spacings - in fact, the same
everything - after all.

And there have been many people - one just recently, IIRC - who have
said that they are sick and tired of the two days they have to take to
reinstall software when they wipe their Windows drive and reinstall the
OS. Well, I have to do that every six months after an *upgrade* - we're
not talking a total wipe and reinstall here, 'just' an upgrade. OK, if
there's a program that has to be removed because it would break or be
broken by a change in library revision or similar, then that's
understandable - but let's have a huge 'You do know this is about to
happen, don't you?' style warning. And I'm talking about standard
programs that are in the standard repositories here, so they *shouldn't*
break or be broken by the upgrade anyway!

Any and all of these issues could be enough to disillusion any potential
converts to Linux. And when they discuss their problems with other
potential converts, you can bet anything you like that they *won't* say
"I had a number of niggles with Ubuntu, but you should try some of the
other Linux distros, you'll find one that works for you" - no, they'll
say "Linux is crap, don't touch it."

In short, if Ubuntu is to truly become "Linux for human beings" then
there has got to be some thought given to consistency in design and
operation and the needs and expectations of the end user have got to be
given priority over the desires of the developers. Only then will
Ubuntu - or any other Linux distro for that matter - become a serious
contender for the mass user desktop market.

l I can say to you is
this, If you can't recognise a bin icon because its blue and is not just
where you expect the bin man to leave it, its beyond me to know how you
manage any computer system.

I *can* recognise a bin icon and do have the nouse to go looking for it
should I need to - but this argument isn't about where .Trash is being
stored in this week's version of Ubuntu - and where it'll be stored in
next week's. This is just one symptom of what I see to be a bigger
problem - a point I hope I'll make a little clearer in my reply to your
other reply (if that makes any sense :-) )

Open a terminal and type sudo nautilus to open the file browser as
root. Navigate to your home folder (/home/<your_user_name> and type
ctrl-H to display hidden files. Find the folder .trash and delete its
contents.

Now, this *should* remove the files from your system but I have known
files deleted in this way to simply be moved to root's trash folder so...

Check your home folder for a folder called .trash-root; if there is no
folder, check to see if there is a /home/.trash-root folder; finally, if
there is no such folder, check in /root/.trash

Hopefully, this should solve your problem.

The locked folders are there because a CD is readable only, once it is
finalized. When they were copied from the CD the permissions went with the
files.

What desktop are you using? Nautilus is for Gnome. Konqueror or Dolphin is for
KDE. Each desktop has its own file manager and the command may be slightly
different as well. You may have to do it from a terminal but will have to do it
as root. Try: sudo rm -i filename or rm -R dir. You can type rm --help for more
uses. You can also use the man pages. In a browser type man rm.

I am using Nautilus. rm just does not work, not even with files that are on
the desktop or elsewhere, let alone the ones in Trash
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm -f JOCURIDIVERSE
[sudo] password for alexandru:
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm -f JOCURIDIVERSE
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ SUDO RM -F JOCURIDIVERSE
bash: SUDO: command not found
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm -f JOCURIDIVERSE
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm -i linky.py
rm: cannot remove `linky.py': No such file or directory
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm JOCURIDIVERSE
rm: cannot remove `JOCURIDIVERSE': No such file or directory
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$ sudo rm UTILITAREpentruWindows
rm: cannot remove `UTILITAREpentruWindows': No such file or directory
alexandru@alexandru-desktop:~$

Can I make the Trash folder visible ? If yes, then I can access it under Slax
and delete everything.
Please, tell me in what folder it is. Everything can be deleted from there
without problems except from those JOCURIDIVERSE folders.