Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: bash
the glob * expands to everything which does not begins with a dot
the glob .* expands to everything beginning with a dot, including . and ..
i think it is safe to say that in 99% of the cases, when someone uses
the glob .* they want to have every hidden file and directory but not .
and ..
rm -rf * #deletes everything but leaves hidden files and directories
rm -rf * .* #dangerous! also deletes everything from upper directory
that is why i think glob .* should expand to every file beginning with .
but should leave out . and .. by default.
workaround:
export GLOBIGNORE=.:..
setting GLOBIGNORE will automatically enable dotglob, which might not be
what you want. if that is the case then you must disable dotglob again.
shopt -u dotglob
this will cause * to expand to every file and directory but not hidden files
and directories
and .* will expand to every hidden file and directory but not . and ..
using ubuntu lucid
bash version 4.1-2ubuntu3
** Affects: bash (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
--
glob .* should expand to every file beginning with . but should leave out . and
..
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/622066
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