problematic default file/directory permissions when VFAT drive connected

Binary package hint: nautilus

The proper behavior I EXPECT:

When I hook up an external hard drive (or USB flash drive) with one big VFAT partition (a VERY common thing), I want to see all directories/folders having these default permissions:

drwxr-xr-x

...and all files to have these default permissions:

-rw-r--r--

Why do I need this? Because all my folders and files under my home directory get those permissions by default whenever I create them. And I want to be able to sync/back up data to and from my VFAT drives, using file syncing tools like grsync, rsync, unison, conduit, etc. But ALL those file sync tools fail miserably when the folder and file permissions are not the same!

Furthermore, it's annoying that whenever I copy files from the VFAT drive to my home directory, then I have to manually adjust the folder/file permissions as above, so that the newly-copied files have permissions similar to all the other folders/files in my home directory. I don't want to have to do this step, as I don't think it's necessary. It is NEVER the case that the "wonky" permissions above are useful or appropriate or helpful, in the real-world way that I use Ubuntu.

Also, novice Ubuntu users should not have to know about permissions (let alone have to manually adjust them), this is a big turn-off for them! It's a big stumbling block when newbies run into this. You don't have to mess around with permissions this way in Windows!

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The buggy behavior I GET:
When I hook up an external hard drive (or USB flash drive) with one big VFAT partition (a VERY common thing), I see folders having these permissions:

drwx------

...and all files having these permissions:

-rwxr-xr-x

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There *used to be* a workaround to this, back when gnome-mount was used:
1. Within gconf-editor, edit "/system/storage/default_options/vfat" (Note: this no longer exists!)

2. Delete the umask key, then add these 2 keys as follows:
dmask=022
fmask=133

...but as of Ubuntu 9.10, you can't use this workaround anymore. Help!

Aargh! I patiently tried to get this issue addressed in bug 178154 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/gnome-mount/+bug/178154), but the bug got closed on me with no fix because gnome-mount is no longer in use.

Final note: It's possible some subsystem of nautilus is to blame for this (But which one? I don't know, please adjust relevant package accordingly if you do, and please don't just mark this as "wont-fix" like bug 178154).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: nautilus 1:2.30.1-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.36-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Jun 11 09:29:43 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: nautilus