There are some of us who get annoyed by such prompts everywhere we turn.
Some of the various formats:

 

1.    You said shutdown. What do you rally want to do? Shut the system
down? Restart? Hibernate?

2.    You said quit. Should I really quit or is there something else you
would like me to do?

3.    You entered a command to do x (choose a command for x). Enter
"Yes" to ignore the command or "No" to proceed with it. 

 

Etc., etc., etc.

 

I think that Apple did a disservice to the world when they started that.
Sort of like the mis-application of MBO and of Top Down Structuyred
Programming, both of which had grave unintentional consequences. The
prompt is so prevalent that people have become inured to it. The
response to the prompt is almost automatic. When the command is
incorrect, the response usually follows suit.

 

Maybe we ought to require that two keys in the possession of different
people, preferable in different countries, be turned simultaneously
before any command is accepted. (Are you reading this, Chuckie? I know
that you can find a way to implement it on the garden-variety PC. It
might make you rich.) 

 

I have always been a believer in "Rule Number 1" which is "Know what you
are doing." The thinking needs to begin before the command is entered. I
have seen more havoc wreaked on systems by those who accidentally push
or pull the wrong button on a cpu than I have by someone entering the
wrong command from a keyboard. I have seen (but not been a party to)
several unintentional power downs, both normal and emergency, over the
past 44 years but only one accidental SHUTDOWN command.

 

 

 

Regards, 

Richard Schuh 

 

Alan Ackerman wrote (in part): 

 

 

Why doesn't CP prompt the operarator:

 

"Are you sure you want to bring this system down? Your job may be on the
=

line. Think about it! 

 

Yes

 

Are you really, really sure you want to bring this system down?

 

Yes

 

Enter your name and Social Security number:

 

etc.

 

 

Alan Ackerman

Alan (dot) Ackerman (at) Bank of America (dot) com 

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