folder compression issue

[Peter Ehlert <pb21a@sdi-baja.com>]

I am using Debian Mate with the GUI.

in Caja file manager, right click on the desired folder.
"Compress" is displayed on a list of options.
default is .tar.gz format

this works fine, I do it regularly ... mostly big folders, ~11.4 GB and 
~2,400 items.

now I am following the same method with a 389.3 MB folder, and 305 items.
at about 2/3 thru the process I get a popup "An error occurred while 
adding files to the archive."

there is tons of disk space, huge RAM, and my 10 GB Swap partition is 
nearly empty.

I have copied that same folder to various locations, tried it with 
Stable and SID and even Linux Mint. Same problem. It seems to be unique 
to this folder, or something in it.

Ideas?

should I file a bug report?