From: David Garamond <davegaramond@...>
Date: 2002-12-08T20:14:08+09:00
Subject: Re: Thank God for backups

Jeremy Henty wrote:
>> ... it's amazing to see that over the years the unix CLI hasn't got
>>a good replacement for "rm" that does trash-can-thingy
> 
> http://www.m-arriaga.net/software/libtrash/
> 
> "This is the homepage of libtrash, a shared library which, when
> preloaded, implements a trash can under GNU/Linux."

cool. thanks for the link. i do remember vaguely that there are a couple 
of libraries that do trash can/recycle bin.

however, i believe the safest approach is to replace (=remove, 
=deprecate, =discourage/forbid usage) "/bin/rm" altogether, and educate 
users to use something else like, say, "/bin/del", or "/bin/erase" 
(which is the safer alternative). let's keep /bin/rm as it is: the 
dangerous, unforgiving, destructive file deletion command. sysadmins or 
users might also want to remove it from the system.

solutions like aliasing or replacing the /bin/rm with a safer 
alternative (and the *same* name) is a two-edged sword. it leads users 
to believe that "rm" is now safe, and encourages them to use it more 
liberally. but the fact is it's only safe in a certain hacked 
environments. accidents will still happen by users who sometimes forget 
that.

--
dave

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unix-critics