GNU bug report logs - #25817
rm: add option to avoid early exit on "."

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From: L A Walsh <coreutils <at> tlinx.org>
To: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
Cc: 25817 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#25817: Why were Gnu coding standards violated in favor of posix	for 'rm -fr .'?: request for reversion of behavior
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 00:41:26 -0800

> Or are you arguing that contents within the directory should be removed,
> even though the directory itself cannot be? 
---
	That's the way a recursive descent algorithm
works: it processes the contents, before the parents.

When it gets to the parent, it couldn't remove it, but
due to the "-f", silently failed.

	Do you really need me to find the older version
of 'rm' in your source tree?

	you know as well as I do, that the verbiage
about disallowing all subpaths under '.' wasn't in earlier
posix versions (say 2001 or before).

	It's not a matter of finding where it says it
is "allowed", rm was always recursive descent and posix
didn't disallow it. 

	Gnu says not to remove features or
behaviors due to changing posix standards...
So the old behavior should be reinstated as
default, and those that want the new behavior can
use POSIX_CORRECTLY (or whatever it is)...

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