File upload on linux

I have some file upload code but it is not woking on debian linux, could some one give me a hand here is the part of the code that is broken the path is below $the_path is set some where else $path = "/var/www/cms/gentext/$section/$doctype/"; if (!@copy($the_file, $the_path."\".$the_file_name)) { // print("<b>Something barfed, check u r path $the_path$the_file_name"); } }