Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!bellcore!texbell!killer!ames!elroy!jpl-devvax!lwall
From: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: fixing rm * (was: Worm/Passwords)
Message-ID: <3554@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 19 Nov 88 02:44:55 GMT
References: <1232@atari.UUCP> <564@comdesign.CDI.COM> <1670@ski.cs.vu.nl>
Reply-To: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Lines: 13

Good grief you guys.  Leave poor /bin/rm alone.  Set your new users up
with an alias to some form of vanish or other.  It's a trivial program to
write--there's one as an example with the perl distribution.  Then just
expire your .deleted directories after a few days.

Then it doesn't matter if they type rm * .o because they can turn around
and unvanish anything they like.

Haven't we learned anything from all these whiz-bang graphics interfaces
with trashcans?

Larry Wall
lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov