Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!bloom-beacon!athena.mit.edu!jik
From: jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: Protection from "rm *"
Message-ID: <1990Oct1.182705.28923@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 1 Oct 90 18:27:05 GMT
References: <853@agcsun.UUCP> <1990Sep30.065005.11001@icc.com> <128855@pyramid.pyramid.com>
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Reply-To: jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 24

In article <128855@pyramid.pyramid.com>, chetal@pyrps5.Pyramid.COM (Pradeep Chetal) writes:
|> I think there is a new program called "delete" from Project Athena at MIT.
|> I am not sure, so someone else on the net could elaborate on that.

  I've been waiting to see if someone else mentioned it, so I wouldn't have to
:-).

  The best way (in my opinion) to prevent problems with accidentally deleting
files under Unix is to create a utility that deletes files in a way that
allows them to be recovered, and then to use that utility instead of rm, and
to teach your users to use that utility instead of rm.

  The "delete" package (which I wrote) is currently in use at Project Athena,
and is (once again, in my opinion :-) worth looking into for those system
administrators or Unix users for whom this is a problem.  It's available in
the comp.sources.unix archives as "undel2" (I forget which volume, but it's
relatively recent).  You also need the "et" library from the same volume in
the c.s.u archives.

-- 
Jonathan Kamens			              USnail:
MIT Project Athena				11 Ashford Terrace
jik@Athena.MIT.EDU				Allston, MA  02134
Office: 617-253-8495			      Home: 617-782-0710