GNU bug report logs - #12339
Bug: rm -fr . doesn't dir depth first deletion yet it is documented to do so.

Previous Next

Full log

View this message in rfc822 format

From: Jim Meyering <jim <at> meyering.net>
To: Linda Walsh <coreutils <at> tlinx.org>
Cc: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>, Bernhard Voelker <mail <at> bernhard-voelker.de>, "12339 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <12339 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: bug#12339: Bug: rm -fr . doesn't dir depth first deletion yet it is	documented to do so.
Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:16:04 +0200

Linda Walsh wrote:
...
> GNU needs to be clear their priorities -- maintaining software
> freedom, or bowing down to corporate powers...  POSIX isn't

While POSIX is in general a very good baseline, no one here conforms
blindly.  If POSIX is wrong, we'll lobby to change it, or, when
that fails, maybe relegate the undesirable required behavior to when
POSIXLY_CORRECT is set, or even simply ignore it.  In fact, over the
years, I have deliberately made a few GNU tools contravene some aspects
of POSIX-specified behavior that I felt were counterproductive.

We try to make the tools as useful as possible, sometimes adding features
when we deem them worthwhile.  However, we are very much against changing
the *default* behavior (behavior that has been that way for over 20
years and that is compatible with all other vendor-supplied rm programs)
without a very good reason.

Previous Next

GNU bug tracking system
Copyright (C) 1999 Darren O. Benham, 1997,2003 nCipher Corporation Ltd, 1994-97 Ian Jackson.