Re: [gentoo-dev] rm tragedies: was how to clean the "/tmp" dir

[Georgi Georgiev]

maillog: 29/05/2004-20:49:21(-0400): purslow@×××××××××.ca types
> 040529 Simon Roby wrote:
> > On May 29, 2004 0527, Aaron Walker wrote:
> >> purslow@×××××××××.ca wrote:
> >>> it's always best to stop & look before hitting Enter w 'rm -rf *',
> >>> esp to check you are in the correct dir & know wh files/dirs are there.
> >> I fell victim to `rm -fr` a few weeks ago after being up  30 hr
> -- horrifying result snipped --
> > I did a `rm -rf *` in my home directory.
> -- horrifying result snipped --
>
> given that 'rm' automatically rejects '..' & '.' in these circumstances,
> it really shd also reject '/' & '~' (incl '/home/username').
> i wonder whether the Gentoo developers cd fix the Gentoo version to do that ?

And if someone could also code "rm" to not delete the files physically but move
them to the "Recycle Bin".

This was a sarcasm.

rm refuses recursive removals of "." and ".." but it still allows you to do
what you really may have wanted to do by running "rm -rf `pwd`" or "rm -rf
$(dirname $(pwd))". Recursive removals of "." and ".." are highly unlikely (one
usually gets out of the directory they are in before removing it) but still
possible to be achieved.

~ cannot be passed as a parameter, because it is expanded by the shell.

How do you propose "rm" to prevent you from deleting stuff in your homedir? Do
you mean that it should warn you that the parameter you have given is your
homedir, or that it should be changed to warn the user who types "rm -rf *"?
The latter is quite impossible to accomplish.

You could use this script instead of rm if you want a safe removal tool.

#!/bin/sh
mkdir -p "$HOME/.Recycle Bin/"
exec mv -b -f -- "${@}" "$HOME/.Recycle Bin/"

-- 
(*   Georgi Georgiev   (* The road to ruin is always in good repair,   (*
*)    chutz@×××.net    *) and the travellers pay the expense of it. -- *)
(*  [phone]   (* Josh Billings                                (*

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