On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 12:28:07AM -0500, Tony Nelson wrote: > At 1:22 PM -0600 11/15/07, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote: > ... > >...Did you know that > >to remove a directory, you should use rmdir, and not rm? There is > >also "rm -d <directory>", but that is limited to root, and should be > >used with care. > > What is the benefit of using rmdir rather than rm -rf, other than having to > empty the directory first? (I use two steps, ll dir followed by editing > the command to be rm -rf.) > rmdir will only remove empty directories, thus if you are expecting the directory to be empty when you remove it it's an insurance against removing files by mistake. I'm alway *very* careful and think hard before hitting return when I use 'rm -rf' it's so unforgiving! -- Chris Green
