this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2026
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Programmer Humor

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[โ€“] mech@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I do the opposite. Whenever I delete anything I use rm -rf /full/path/to/file
Just starting to type that triggers a fear response and makes me triple-check what I'm doing.

Honestly, this idea has me pretty mortified as well. Just seeing โ€rm -rf /โ€ as part of a string sends chills down my spine.

Granted, any reasons or explanations to cause a string being cut short to this godforsaken form and accidentally run is extremely unlikely, but a valid theoretical possibility: I can easily imagine someone mistyping the first letter after root and, wishing to delete it, pressing Backspace while simultaneously accidentally grazing the Enter key.

Sure, the chances of it happening are about the same as a gun user accidentally dropping their gun, clumsily catching it in the air and accidentally shooting someone right in between the eyes as a result.