Package: coreutils Version: 6.10-3 Severity: normal
"rm -irf *" deletes everything without asking, whereas "rm -rfi *" will ask for each item. The conflicting options -i and -f are not handled well, and this is a problem for such a dangerous command. At the very least, it must be documented what happens when the conflicting options -i and -f are both given. rm, however, is a special case which needs to be as idiot-proof as feasible. With "rm -irf" the user clearly wants interaction, as that is the sole purpose of the -i option. The -f option also suppresses other interaction, for example, for write-protected files. The fact that it also suppresses -i interaction is arguably a mis-feature. The fact that -f silently overrides -i is not acceptable in such a dangerous command. I see the following fixes, in order of decreasing desireability: 1) -f no longer suppresses -i interaction 2) -i -f aborts with an error message 3) current behavior documented in the manpage -- System Information: Debian Release: lenny/sid APT prefers proposed-updates APT policy: (500, 'proposed-updates'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (1, 'experimental') Architecture: i386 (i686) Kernel: Linux 2.6.21.3B Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash Versions of packages coreutils depends on: ii libacl1 2.2.45-1 Access control list shared library ii libc6 2.7-10 GNU C Library: Shared libraries ii libselinux1 2.0.59-1 SELinux shared libraries coreutils recommends no packages. -- no debconf information -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected]
