[PLUG] Folder creation/renaming quandary

[John Jason Jordan]

Xubuntu 14.04.3 up to date.

Normally I do all my file manipulations in the GUI (Thunar), but this
time it is failing me. Oddly, I get the same strange results from the
command line as well.

I have ripped and encoded a DVD that I own of the movie '8½
1963' (arguably Fellini's crowning achievement). The filename is 8½
1963.mkv, created by Handbrake. Now I wish to create a folder of the
same name (sans .mkv, of course). Thunar says it can't do this because
'the file already exists.' But I am clicking on "create folder,' so
Thunar should realize that I am creating a folder, not a file.

From the command line:

	 mkdir 8½ 1963

Resulted in a folder '8½' being created, apocopating the year. Then it
dawned on me that the command line didn't like the space, so I did:

	 mkdir 8½\ 1963

Which resulted in the same error message as Thunar:

	 mkdir: cannot create directory ‘8½ 1963’: File exists

At this point I just renamed 8½ 1963.mkv by appending a dash to the
name: 8½ 1963-.mkv. But it didn't make any difference; Thunar and the
command line continue to give me the same error messages.

Also, having renamed 8½ 1963.mkv to 8½ 1963-.mkv I used Catfish to
search for 8½ 1963.mkv, and it said there were no such files anywhere
in my entire filesystem.

Note that the filename uses Unicode 00BD, rather than 1/2. I had to do
this because Linux correctly thought that the / was a folder and
wouldn't let Handbrake create it as 8 1/2.mkv. (To get this on your
computer just type Ctrl-Shift-u, then 'bd.')

I may be doing something stupid, but I can't figure out what it might
be. Or maybe ext4 is doing something stupid.

Suggestions?