On Mon, 2006-08-07 at 23:00 +0100, Chris Jones wrote: > > Eventually, that even didn't work and I was advised to do something > > which turned out to be disastrous so NEVER EVER issue the following from > > a root shell > > > > rm -rf $Home/* > > I cannot say enough bad things about whoever suggested this to you (If they > actually did, which I really hope they didn't) > > I guess the INTENTION was to delete everything from the home area of some user > account . However, > > 1. The first problem is if you are logged in as root $HOME (yes, all upper > case, see point 2 below) $HOME evaluates to /root. So all you end up doing is > deleting all your root account config/account files. > > 2. The environment variable $Home does not exist ! It is $HOME. So if you had > a clue what you where doing, and had tried > > > echo rm -rf $Home/* > > first you would have discovered > > #[root@localhost ~]# echo rm -rf $Home/* > rm -rf /bin /boot /data /data2 /dev /etc /home /lhcb /lib /lost+found /media /misc /mnt /net /proc /root /sbin /selinux /srv /sys /tmp /usr /var /winxp > > i.e. as you discovered this command eats EVERYTHING... > > Let this be a lesson. > > Chris > As root, on Fedora, the rm command does include the -i option (it is an alias). However, \rm does not include the -i because it uses the system rm command and not the alias. However, Chris, I believe you are being too lenient with whomever told him to do that. I would be more inclined to believe that whoever it was actually meant what you list as the output. IE, I would believe it certainly was meant as a nefarious way to wipe out the entire system. I do not give the benefit of the doubt to those who prey on the inexperienced and unsuspecting that way. > p.s. I suggest ANY rm command you run as root should include the -i flag >
