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Shootout: 'rm -Rf /' vs. 'Format C:'
skyshock21 writes "There's an article over at hohle.net about what actually happens when you type the commands Format C: in windows versus rm -Rf / in Linux. Very interesting results indeed. Myths are busted, and hilarity ensues."
I prefer the magnet or throwing the disk out the window.
they apparently did a rm -rf / on their webserver..
For a second I read that as
.fr
rm
as in "remove france"
i'll go back to laughing at the election results. or was it crying, i cant remember now.
You never know - he might do it. This time he has popular support.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
I once saw an errant script run as a cron job (I DIDN'T WRITE IT, DAMN IT! WHY DON'T PEOPLE BELIEVE ME!!!) execute "rm -f *" in root AS root once. No big deal, right? What if someone accidentally (IT WASN'T ME!!!) created a file called "-r" in / two years prior to the errant rm? Hmm? Now what happens if you have nearly two terabytes of data mounted rw without root squashing via NFS on that workstation? Now what happens if that runs on a Saturday night and nobody notices until Monday morning?
I'll tell you what happens. What happens is that the next several days are very, very, very long and very, very, very uncomfortable.
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
He's got my vote!
Now pass the freedom fries!
3. Profit!
2. ???
1. On Soviet Slashdot, a Beowulf cluster of alien Natalie Portman overlords welcomes YOU!
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
"I know that "format c:" and "rm -Rf
This comparison is mostly to check how well you can get a n00b to screw up his system, which is notoriously done with format and rm.
Lemon curry???
... this one, I mean. And I'm convinced it is one of those Magic Eye things.
Rome wasn't bilked in a day.
>su >dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda Works every time for me!
Microwave the drive... works everytime. If the room is dark, you're in for watching some serious fireworks!
We were in the middle of an overnight service migration and my co-worker, intending to delete a copy of the directory types "rm -rf /etc" instead of "rm -rf etc".
We had to restore from backup, and boy was he red faced for weeks after...
The friendliest digital photography forums on the net!
Back in the '80s, my boss had one of the first PCs in the building with a hard disk. One day he asked me to copy some files off onto a floppy, so I put the floppy in the drive and typed "format", as I was used to doing...
C:>FORMAT
Insert floppy into drive C: and hit return.
The rest is history. As was everything on the drive.
I tried some similar expressions recently:
/FS:KERRY
format c:
rm -Bush *
The results were very telling. Both candidates made about 5,000 prompts all on the order of "5 more years?:" and "The American people will pick the right man for 5 more years?:". As most of these prompts were gibberish, I responded in a random fashion.
In the end, the files of the Bush system remained on the system, but still functioned poorly and continued to periodically core dump.
What amazed me on the Kerry system was that the files actually wrote over themselves many times before all simultaneously deleting!
All in all, the process took about 7 months and I can honestly say that I hope never to have to do that again. Further more, based on how both operate when active, I would like to see a completely new category of OS if I do have to go through this again.
Hunger is the best sauce.
Ok, I've just finished installing Linux on a fresh hard drive and have spent a few hours editing stuff in /etc using my favourite editor joe. The editor creates backup files everytime it overwrites a file, naming them as the original filename with a tilde appended. I wanted to quickly remove all the backup files so I typed
But curses, my caffeine-overloaded fingers were too quick to hit that spacebar and I ended up with AARGH! There goes BOTHoverwrite it with all zeros to hide the shreading, then remove the file Wouldn't it be better to replace it with the original bits. That would remove all traces of shredding. Something pithy goes here
>You assume a roll which gives you extra priviliges.
I assume a croissant which effectively makes me root.
These methods are pretty good ways to kill a system. However, I found that a large electromagnetic field generated by an old bulk eraser produces similar results in just seconds! Man, was my cube mate pissed!
I don't have screenshots, though. I think I'm sterile, too.
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
If you want someone to screw up his system, then "while (1)
mkdir foo; cd foo
end"
is even more effective.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
Some might argue that simply having Windows XP means the users have already screwed themselves.
I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.
We used to login as root and type 'rm -r' into the console WITHOUT pressing Enter.
We then took turns at throwing stuff at the keyboard to see if we would just-so-happen to hit the Enter key.
Luckily, none of us were very good shots...
RM
I have no sig yet I must scream.
Well I can't find any evidence that it does or does not void your warranty, on apple's own site or google, not even a mention of it. Also, I can't believe that enable root would prevent you from getting hardware replaced. It is a normal system function, and there are no warnings to that effect when you do enable the root user (WARNING ENABLING THE ROOT USER WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY, that sort of thing). It just sounds preposterous, imagine:
You: My hard drive is fritzed, the s.m.a.r.t. diagnostics indicate a hardware failure.
Apple: Is root user enabled?
You: Yes, I am an old skool unix geek that has to have a terminal with '#' open at all times when I am at my system, along with my case of mountain dew and tub of beef jerky.
Apple: Sorry then, enabling root user voids your hardware warranty.
You: But I have to test out this rm -Rf / thingy
Apple: Not on our dime, you root abuser. Use sudo instead after you have purchased a new hard drive.
My guess is this is a lie that someone perpetuated to get some n00b to keep from (unwisely) enabling r00t.
music lover since 1969
Depends on char race and class. You should chose a human valkyrie for your role based access account, if you want high strength. If you come across Mjollinir, you can throw it and it comes back to you (with 25 strength or higher), plus lightning damage.
Earlier in the game, Magicbane will serve you better (magic resistance, engraving, and curse resistance).
music lover since 1969
simmer your drive for 40 minutes on high heat till tender. Add taters, carrots, celery. spices. Remember to Floss now.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
"Nobody wants to see your home-made porn that badly."
Ye of little faith.
I once did a recursive rm -rf / as root on Slackware linux. After it completed I tried to log out and all I got was a message that said:
"You don't exist, go away!"
Very amusing.
Anybody know which Linux package is responsable for this message?
I set a few USE flags, and my Gentoo can rm -rf / 10x faster than Red Hat. I'll prove it! Just give me a se
*NO CARRIER*
Close. That was dead stars, this is deskstars.