On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, James McKenzie wrote:
Matthew Saltzman wrote:
On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Leandro Melo wrote:
"rm /usr/*" will delete only files in the directory /usr. Directories will remain intact. To recursively delete directories and their contents, use "rm -r <path>". If you are getting prompts for every file, use "\rm /usr/*". Read "man rm" carefully.If you were do delete the /usr directory, you will end up reinstalling Linux.
FYI, here's the contents of my /usr/ dir:
$ ls /usr bin etc include kerberos libexec lost+found share tmp doc games java lib local sbin src X11R6
Why? There are usually no regular files in /usr (and the OP knew he had none). "rm *" removes only regular files in the current directory. It doesn't delete or descend directories. Deleting directories requires "rm -r". (Sure, you do have to be careful, but if you don't do it wrong, you won't be screwed.)
I've been the victim of a rm -rf * gone wrong.
I would be very careful when using the rm command in any directory which is required by the operating system.
However, you are right, rm * should only remove the files put there by the misuse of the unzip program.
I would definitely backup the subdirectories in the /usr directory before running the rm command, just in case something goes wrong.
-- James McKenzie
