Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!oberon!aero!venera.isi.edu!raveling
From: raveling@vaxb.isi.edu (Paul Raveling)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: Trying to remove a file called "-ls"
Keywords: HP bug
Message-ID: <7775@venera.isi.edu>
Date: 14 Mar 89 16:51:49 GMT
References: <570@sdrc.UUCP> <2087@helios.ee.lbl.gov> <7770@venera.isi.edu> <7572@pyr.gatech.EDU>
Sender: news@venera.isi.edu
Reply-To: raveling@vaxb.isi.edu.UUCP (Paul Raveling)
Organization: USC-Information Sciences Institute
Lines: 29

In article <7572@pyr.gatech.EDU> curci@stat.fsu.edu (Ray Curci (scri)) writes:
>In article <7770@venera.isi.edu> raveling@isi.edu (Paul Raveling) writes:
>>In article <2087@helios.ee.lbl.gov> JEMilburn@lbl.gov writes:
>>>In article <570@sdrc.UUCP> diblanch@sdrc.UUCP (Jeff Blanchet) writes:
>>>>I seem to have stumbled across a bug that occurs on the HP. I created a file
>>>Try rm "-ls".
>>Paul Raveling
>>Raveling@isi.edu
>
>The usuall way to get rid of files that begin with '-' is to use the '-' 
>flag in the 'rm' command.  To remove the file "-ls", you nomally enter
>the command:            rm - -ls
>The first dash acts as a place holder so that the rm program does not
>misinterpret the "ls" as flags to the rm program.

	This removes -ls, but it's because rm interperts the 1st -
	as a filename.  It produces a message of "rm: - non-existent"
	and $status = 2, but does remove -ls.

	A footnote on reference to my signature should be that
	none of the referenced comments were mine.  My 2 bits is that
	the most sanitary approach under Unix is "rm ./-ls".  The
	best approach for both sanitation esthetics and user-humane
	command line interfaces is to use a better operating system.


----------------
Paul Raveling
Raveling@isi.edu