rm -rf * What would it do and why would you use it?

[Kenneth Brody]

Quoting Fairlight (Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:37:12 -0400):
[...]
> To be fair, when someone would ask idiot newbie questions on LinuxNET back
> when I used to be a regular there, the stock answer to just about "how do
> I...?" -anything- was indeed "rm -rf /". But we were joking, and we all
> knew it, and it was not a "help" environment, especially for newbies--and
> that was part of making it clear, in our minds.  Nobody would have actually
> let someone -do- it, though.  So it could have been used in fun, I suppose.
> It's not without precedent.

Many "how do I..." questions about Windows are still answered "format c:".
(Ofttimes followed with "install $FavoriteLinuxDistrib".)  Same idea.

[...]

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