diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/file/posix.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/file/posix.rb
index 6cbf98e9a..415a5af40 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/file/posix.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/file/posix.rb
@@ -1,99 +1,99 @@
 Puppet::Type.type(:file).provide :posix do
   desc "Uses POSIX functionality to manage file's users and rights."
 
   confine :feature => :posix
 
   include Puppet::Util::POSIX
   include Puppet::Util::Warnings
 
   require 'etc'
 
   def id2name(id)
     return id.to_s if id.is_a?(Symbol)
     return nil if id > Puppet[:maximum_uid].to_i
 
     begin
       user = Etc.getpwuid(id)
     rescue TypeError
       return nil
     rescue ArgumentError
       return nil
     end
 
     if user.uid == ""
       return nil
     else
       return user.name
     end
   end
 
-  def insync?(current, should)
+  def is_owner_insync?(current, should)
     return true unless should
 
     should.each do |value|
       if value =~ /^\d+$/
         uid = Integer(value)
       elsif value.is_a?(String)
         fail "Could not find user #{value}" unless uid = uid(value)
       else
         uid = value
       end
 
       return true if uid == current
     end
 
     unless Puppet.features.root?
       warnonce "Cannot manage ownership unless running as root"
       return true
     end
 
     false
   end
 
   # Determine if the user is valid, and if so, return the UID
   def validuser?(value)
     Integer(value) rescue uid(value) || false
   end
 
   def retrieve(resource)
     unless stat = resource.stat(false)
       return :absent
     end
 
     currentvalue = stat.uid
 
     # On OS X, files that are owned by -2 get returned as really
     # large UIDs instead of negative ones.  This isn't a Ruby bug,
     # it's an OS X bug, since it shows up in perl, too.
     if currentvalue > Puppet[:maximum_uid].to_i
       self.warning "Apparently using negative UID (#{currentvalue}) on a platform that does not consistently handle them"
       currentvalue = :silly
     end
 
     currentvalue
   end
 
   def sync(path, links, should)
     # Set our method appropriately, depending on links.
     if links == :manage
       method = :lchown
     else
       method = :chown
     end
 
     uid = nil
     should.each do |user|
       break if uid = validuser?(user)
     end
 
     raise Puppet::Error, "Could not find user(s) #{should.join(",")}" unless uid
 
     begin
       File.send(method, uid, nil, path)
     rescue => detail
       raise Puppet::Error, "Failed to set owner to '#{uid}': #{detail}"
     end
 
     :file_changed
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/file/win32.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/file/win32.rb
index 8ead69a89..23aa491dc 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/file/win32.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/file/win32.rb
@@ -1,74 +1,74 @@
 Puppet::Type.type(:file).provide :microsoft_windows do
   desc "Uses Microsoft Windows functionality to manage file's users and rights."
 
   confine :feature => :microsoft_windows
 
   include Puppet::Util::Warnings
 
   require 'sys/admin' if Puppet.features.microsoft_windows?
 
   def id2name(id)
     return id.to_s if id.is_a?(Symbol)
     return nil if id > Puppet[:maximum_uid].to_i
     # should translate ID numbers to usernames
     id
   end
 
-  def insync?(current, should)
+  def is_owner_insync?(current, should)
     return true unless should
 
     should.each do |value|
       if value =~ /^\d+$/
         uid = Integer(value)
       elsif value.is_a?(String)
         fail "Could not find user #{value}" unless uid = uid(value)
       else
         uid = value
       end
 
       return true if uid == current
     end
 
     unless Puppet.features.root?
       warnonce "Cannot manage ownership unless running as root"
       return true
     end
 
     false
   end
 
   # Determine if the user is valid, and if so, return the UID
   def validuser?(value)
     info "Is '#{value}' a valid user?"
     return 0
     begin
       number = Integer(value)
       return number
     rescue ArgumentError
       number = nil
     end
     (number = uid(value)) && number
   end
 
   def retrieve(resource)
     unless stat = resource.stat(false)
       return :absent
     end
 
     currentvalue = stat.uid
 
     # On OS X, files that are owned by -2 get returned as really
     # large UIDs instead of negative ones.  This isn't a Ruby bug,
     # it's an OS X bug, since it shows up in perl, too.
     if currentvalue > Puppet[:maximum_uid].to_i
       self.warning "Apparently using negative UID (#{currentvalue}) on a platform that does not consistently handle them"
       currentvalue = :silly
     end
 
     currentvalue
   end
 
   def sync(path, links, should)
     info("should set '%s'%%owner to '%s'" % [path, should])
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/file/owner.rb b/lib/puppet/type/file/owner.rb
index d473da20e..483cc7fce 100755
--- a/lib/puppet/type/file/owner.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/file/owner.rb
@@ -1,52 +1,52 @@
 module Puppet
   Puppet::Type.type(:file).newproperty(:owner) do
 
     desc "To whom the file should belong.  Argument can be user name or
       user ID."
     @event = :file_changed
 
     def insync?(current)
-      provider.insync?(current, @should)
+      provider.is_owner_insync?(current, @should)
     end
 
     # We want to print names, not numbers
     def is_to_s(currentvalue)
       provider.id2name(currentvalue) || currentvalue
     end
 
     def should_to_s(newvalue = @should)
       case newvalue
       when Symbol
         newvalue.to_s
       when Integer
         provider.id2name(newvalue) || newvalue
       when String
         newvalue
       else
         raise Puppet::DevError, "Invalid uid type #{newvalue.class}(#{newvalue})"
       end
     end
 
     def retrieve
       if self.should
         @should = @should.collect do |val|
           unless val.is_a?(Integer)
             if tmp = provider.validuser?(val)
               val = tmp
             else
               raise "Could not find user #{val}"
             end
           else
             val
           end
         end
       end
       provider.retrieve(@resource)
     end
 
     def sync
       provider.sync(resource[:path], resource[:links], @should)
     end
   end
 end