Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?



On 2009-09-02, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:
"Sidney" == Sidney Lambe <sidneylambe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Sidney> That runs rm as if you had entered /usr/bin/rm.
Sidney> The idea is to run it without any options: It could be renamed
Sidney> with an alias to something like rm -i, which is
Sidney> pretty common.

And I argue, very wrong.

Absolutely!

But that doesn't keep idiots from doing it.

Some Linux distributions do it. That's why I always start my
.bashrc file with "unalias -a".


--
Chris F.A. Johnson, author <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/shell/>
Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)
===== My code in this post, if any, assumes the POSIX locale
===== and is released under the GNU General Public Licence
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?
    ... Sidney> The idea is to run it without any options: ... Sidney> with an alias to something like rm -i, ... Chris hates aliases but he won't explain why either. ... A lot of experts think it is a very good idea for root to ...
    (comp.unix.shell)
  • Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?
    ... Sidney> The idea is to run it without any options: ... Sidney> with an alias to something like rm -i, ... to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems. ...
    (comp.unix.shell)
  • Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?
    ... Sidney> alias rm and mv to rm -i and mv -i for obvious reasons. ... Q. what's the difference between a truck with rear wheel drive ... Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc. ...
    (comp.unix.shell)
  • Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?
    ... On 02.09.2009, Randal L. Schwartz wrote: ... Sidney> The idea is to run it without any options: ... Sidney> with an alias to something like rm -i, ... Stanislaw Klekot ...
    (comp.unix.shell)
  • Re: Why preceed a "rm" command with a backslash?
    ... Sidney> The idea is to run it without any options: ... Sidney> with an alias to something like rm -i, ... Smalltalk/Perl/Unix consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc. ... See http://methodsandmessages.vox.com/ for Smalltalk and Seaside discussion ...
    (comp.unix.shell)