Yes, that's how I nuked my workstation once. Part of my development routine was running sudo rm -rf $SDCARD/*. Guess what happens when SDCARD isn't defined.
set -u is your friend. Unless you're running that command interactively, in which case it just exits the shell without giving any warning at all. Oh, the joys of shells written to be compatible with scripts created 20 years ago...
13 Comments
stoy@lemmy.zip · 35 pts · 25d
Don't you have to pass the --no-preserve-root flag for this to work these days?
second@feddit.uk · 20 pts · 25d
Or use
/*for the path so it globs to all directories under/whilst not triggering the logic which requires--no-preserve-root.hayvan@piefed.world · 34 pts · 25d
Yes, that's how I nuked my workstation once. Part of my development routine was running
sudo rm -rf $SDCARD/*. Guess what happens whenSDCARDisn't defined.pivot_root@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 25d
set -uis your friend. Unless you're running that command interactively, in which case it just exits the shell without giving any warning at all. Oh, the joys of shells written to be compatible with scripts created 20 years ago...hayvan@piefed.world · 6 pts · 25d
It was interactive, but thanks, killing the shell is still better than reinstalling the machine.
Zarobi@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 25d
Even Steam did this once...
veroxii@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 25d
Nice!
Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 25d
Shouldn't it be
/*.*for proper nuking or is that unnecessary ? I was told some hidden files would be ignored without itpoolcritter@pawb.social · 1 pts · 24d
shopt -s dotglobHomo_Erectus@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 25d
Yeah, but it wouldn't fit in the speech bubble =P
balderdash9@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 25d
Don't try this at home kids
WereCat@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 25d
I did this accidentally on my TrueNAS when I was tired and troubleshooting something after midnight… luckily I had a backup
Kimika@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 24d
For those with a full or partial "huh?"
https://linuxstans.com/sudo-rm-rf/