Sharing a folder CIFS/SMB - why so hard?

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I having been running Zorin 18 Core for a while now on a Thinkpad. I have been using Linux/BSD for decades but my work has meant generally using Windows machines. I am however pretty comfortable at using things in Linux including the Terminal to fix issues. And Zorin has generally been awesome, hats off to the developers as generally its been remarkably good. Mostly I have been able to figure out things pretty well as there is lots of support for Ubuntu based distro out there in the world. I have had to use the command line a fair bit but from my point of view no big issue. Until I tried to share a local folder over CIFS/SMB from my Zorin machine to my Windows PC's.

For some reason the GUI file sharing features in Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-like distros such as Mint have been removed from Zorin. There was no warning about this anywhere and I struggled to find help on this as the best I could do was the AI warned me that nautilus (Files) was missing the sharing packages. This got me part of the way there.

Turns out I had to install Samba and wsdd and a bunch of other stuff plus a lot of manual configuration to make this work - this took me several hours, manual text based samba setup being a pain. Conversely, Linux Mint told me what it needed to do to make it work, did it and then it just worked (5 minutes). Haven't tried it on vanilla Ubuntu but I suspect it works there too according to the guides I have seen online.

My question is: Why did the Zorin developers remove this feature, and make it harder when everything else has been done so well? Its really put me off Zorin as a working tool as I have to live with a mixed environment of machines. Please fix this as it is harder than it seems to need to be?

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Hello and welcome,
I don't know why it took you several hours because there are many simple tutorial to install samba on Ubuntu (so Zorin), like mine:

Install Samba

Update your system

Update your system before installing Samba. Run below command to update your system.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Samba

To install Samba, use the following command.

sudo apt install samba cifs-utils -y

Configure Samba

Samba’s configuration file is located in /etc/samba/smb.conf. You can customize it by editing this file.

Edit configuration file

Edit Samba configuration file and add the lines given in next step.

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

2. Setup shared directory

Add the following section at the end of the file and save your configuration file.

[SharedFolder]
path = /path/to/shared/folder
browseable = yes
writable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = no

Replace /path/to/shared/folder with the folder path you want to share.

Note: If you have made any changes to the configuration file, you have to restart Samba service.

Create a Shared directory

If the given folder in the configuration file doesn’t exist, you have to create it and want to apply proper permissions.

 mkdir -p /path/to/shared/folder
 chmod -R 775 /path/to/shared/folder

Add a Samba User

sudo adduser <username>
sudo smbpasswd -a <username>

Note: Ensure the password is set for both the system and Samba.

Start and Enable Samba service

Restart Samba

Once the changes are made, restart samba using the following command.

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Enable Samba to start on Reboot

sudo systemctl enable smbd

Check Samba Status

sudo systemctl status smbd

You can after install Nautilus Share to share a folder with right click in file manager

sudo apt install nautilus-share

Zorin is made for 'basics' users and not so many people need to use samba, because like Ubuntu it offer a media sharing in settings

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I moved this thread from General Help to Feedback as it seems you managed to resolve the issue; but are questioning the developer choices.

I am not certain of this as Zorin OS is distinctly aimed toward Windows OS users.
This distinction elevates the importance of Windows compatibility.

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Samba client already exist, most of windows users use it and samba sever is not installed by defautl on Windows also, even if it's more easy to install it

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You have to do any of that on Ubuntu, mate, I know samba pretty well and there is nothing simple about the process you have described above, if like you were trying to remember how to do it after several years of not having to do it Ubuntu and Mint walk you through it actually except for wsdd which is essential IMO - dont get me started on why there is wsdd-server and wsdd packages now - why?. I knew how to do it - cause I already have done it , my point is why isn't it done already?

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Mate that is the dumbest thing I have heard anyone say about Windows ever - networking is built in it takes 3 clicks max to share a folder. Maybe don't comment if you have no idea what you are talking about?

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Correct Zorin is meant to easy but has deleted functionality Ubuntu and Mint have - so poor people who don't know anything will never understand how to get it working - because there is no help available to get it done within Zorin itself. Sharing a folder should not require 15 steps. Samba at this point is a well established product and there are way easier ways of setting it up available in many other distros - which is why it took me ages to remember how to do BECAUSE I haven't had do it manually (see Nourpon's ridiculous answer, sure it is easy just do this!! yeah ■■■■■■■■ mate) for years at this point.

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While I understand the frustration these issues can cause, let's please try to refrain from insulting anyone. We understand the pain as we have had plenty of features over the years removed and have unfortunately been voicing our concerns to seemingly non-existent ears, but let's all remember that we're all here in an attempt at helping and making things better for everyone.

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No for sure I don't know what I'm talking about I was just Windows sysadmin for 40 years, And for sure I never used smb, why should I had ?!
And like @applecheeks37 said, insulting me will never fix your problem, and you know so well all process speaking of network, do you think a sysadmin never type one line in shell ?!
I hope you will be happy with other distros, end of talk for me...

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Following the steps, even if there are several of them, is 'easy' by definition. It is not complex, nor requires coding. It is not ridiculous; it is helpfully instructive.
However, it is not intuitive, nor should you have to remember fifteen steps, easy to perform or not.

I would not remember all of that. Especially for something that you would only setup one time.

I do not use Samba, admittedly. It is guesswork on my part that it would be a desired thing for users migrating from Windows OS, like WINE or Steam support.

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We should also remember that Samba was actually written for Windows, it's a Microsoft thing. (Something I only discovered myself recently).

When it comes to network sharing on Linux machines, life is even simpler with NFS.