• jaybone@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Should only be used with extreme caution and if you know what you are doing.

      Ok. What is the actual use case for “rm -rf /“ even if you know what you are doing and using extreme caution? If you want to wipe a disk, there are better ways to do it, and you certainly wouldn’t want that disk mounted on / when you do it, right?

      • stebo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 hours ago

        isn’t the command meant to be used on a certain path? like if you just graduated high school, you can just run “rm -rf ~/documents/homework/” ?

        • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 hour ago

          Correct me if im wrong, i assume switch “-rf” is short for “Root File”, for the starting point of recursion

          • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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            1 hour ago

            No, -r and -f are two different switches. -r is recursive, used so that it also removes folders within the directory. -f is force (so overriding all confirmations, etc).

      • Sunsofold@lemmings.world
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        7 hours ago

        None. Remember that the response is AI generated. It’s probabilistically created from people’s writings. There are strong relations between that command and other ‘dangerous commands.’ Writings about 'dangerous commands ’ oft contain something about how they should ‘only be run by someone who knows what they are doing’ so the response does too.

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        There probably isn’t one and there really doesn’t have to be one. The ability to do it is a side effect of the versatility of the command.

      • WanderingCat@lemm.ee
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        10 hours ago

        There isn’t. It’s just the fact that it will. The command can/is used often to remove other directories

      • pyre@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        Microsoft’s copilot takes offense like a little bitch and ends the conversation if you call it useless. even though it’s a fact.

        the fucker can’t do simple algebra but it gets offended when you insult it for not doing something fucking calculators do.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          “How dare you call me useless after I return the same incorrect response for the 8th time even though you’ve told me I’m wrong 7 different ways! Come back when you can be more civil.”