thad@public.BTR.COM (Thaddeus P. Floryan) (02/26/91)
In article <22834@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan) writes: > > I have a file whose name consists of the single character "-". I can't >rm it or mv it or cat it or more it or anything to it. How can I get rid of >it? $ rm ./- or you could "rm -fr *" followed by the Norton Utilities to undelete all BUT the file named ``-'' :-) Thad P.S. I figured to answer this ASAP (and throw in some humor) before another round of eleventy-seven flames begins re: inappropriate questions; sometimes it's less tiresome to just answer than to get on a soapbox. Thad Floryan [ thad@btr.com (OR) {dewcwrl, mips, fernwood}!btr!thad ]
tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) (02/27/91)
From the keyboard of gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan): : I have a file whose name consists of the single character "-". I can't :rm it or mv it or cat it or more it or anything to it. How can I get rid of :it? Call the manufacturer. Ask a coworker. Burn your computer. Throw out the disk. Read The Fucking Manual. Read the Damn Frequently Asked Questions List. But don't post no-brainers to comp.unix.wizards -- that's not what this group is about. --tom -- "UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things." -- Doug Gwyn Tom Christiansen tchrist@convex.com convex!tchrist
gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan) (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb26.170212.22920@convex.com> tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) writes: >But don't post no-brainers to comp.unix.wizards -- that's >not what this group is about. > >--tom With no-personality people like you around, the no-brain questions seem to fit in perfect. :-} Ben...
subbarao@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kartik Subbarao) (02/27/91)
In article <6661@idunno.Princeton.EDU> pfalstad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Falstad) writes: >tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) wrote: >>From the keyboard of gt2807a@prism.gatech.EDU (Benjamin H. Cowan): >>: I have a file whose name consists of the single character "-". I can't >>:rm it or mv it or cat it or more it or anything to it. How can I get rid of >>:it? > >>Ask a coworker. >> >>Burn your computer. >> >>Throw out the disk. > >Ask a coworker!?! Please, please; let's at least answer the question >before tempers get out of control. > >If you have a file that simply has a '/' in it, you can >just quote the slash: > > rm "/" > >But a file with a - in it takes special handling. Fortunately there are >many ways to remove a file like this. [numerous software solutions deleted] Aww, that's the problem with you CS majors: Now an EE like myself, I'd do it this way; Go to the disk and assert the write signal for the particular track and sector, zero in on the right place, and poof -- your file is gone. This is guaranteed to be the simplest and fastest way to do things, provably in order n log n time. (oops, that's a CS saying). -Kartik e x t r a l i n e s f o r i n e w s -- internet# find . -name core -exec cat {} \; |& tee /dev/tty* subbarao@phoenix.Princeton.EDU -| Internet kartik@silvertone.Princeton.EDU (NeXT mail) SUBBARAO@PUCC.BITNET - Bitnet
emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti) (02/27/91)
In article <6668@idunno.Princeton.EDU> subbarao@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kartik Subbarao) writes:
e | real wizards don't put in extra lines for inews. they
x | know that 1) it's evil to put in too much quoted text and
t | 2) inews is just a program which can be circumvented and
r | 3) it's ugly and pointless to waste lines.
a | 4) sets a bad example too.
l | how do I remove a file "-" points out a flaw in the
i | unix getopt scheme. that "-" is often overloaded to
n | mean "standard output" or "standard input" is another
e | source of confusion. exercise: describe other punctuation
s | marks which the unix shells and c libraries abuse.
f | it's clear that there's a use for a newsgroup approximating
o | the role of "ask mr. wizard". what that group would be
r | named, got me.
i | radical idea: a group which would be culled from the
n | best postings in the rest of comp.unix.*.
e | ruthlessly moderated, indexed, and edited as necessary.
w | funded by either some government grant (not likely),
s | subscriber fees, or something.
on the whole there's a lot of good stuff in comp.unix.*, but there's
also a lot of just plain old stuff.
--
Msen Edward Vielmetti
/|--- moderator, comp.archives
emv@msen.comrodney@sun.ipl.rpi.edu (Rodney Peck II) (02/28/91)
>In article <6661@idunno.Princeton.EDU> pfalstad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Falstad) writes: >>Ask a coworker!?! Please, please; let's at least answer the question >>before tempers get out of control. >> >>If you have a file that simply has a '/' in it, you can >>just quote the slash: >> >> rm "/" >> "AAAAARRHRRHRHRGHGHGRAAH!" "No, that's wrong," he said wondering when this would ever end. I like the "ask a coworker" idea. But if that isn't good enough, at least don't give answers like this that are blatently incorrect. Go ahead and make a file called / and try to do anything to it with quotes around the /. You can try '/', "/", './/', \/ and any other quoting you like, but it simply will not work. The answer to get around '-' as the first char is to get something else in front of the -. Generally, the answer is "rm ./-". This group is fun -- it really tests your level of tolerance. -- Rodney
pfalstad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Falstad) (02/28/91)
rodney@sun.ipl.rpi.edu (Rodney Peck II) wrote: >>In article <6661@idunno.Princeton.EDU> pfalstad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Falstad) writes: >>>Ask a coworker!?! Please, please; let's at least answer the question >>>before tempers get out of control. >>> >>>If you have a file that simply has a '/' in it, you can >>>just quote the slash: >>> >>> rm "/" >>> > >"AAAAARRHRRHRHRGHGHGRAAH!" >"No, that's wrong," he said wondering when this would ever end. sarcasm, n.: 1. a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usu. directed against an individual. syn see SATIRE. Advice to all who replied: go back and read the post more carefully before sending me email next time. -- David Hemmings appeared by permission of the National Forestry Commission.
rbj@uunet.UU.NET (Root Boy Jim) (02/28/91)
? Paul Falstad, pfalstad@phoenix.princeton.edu PLink:HYPNOS GEnie:P.FALSTAD
? Princeton University apologizes for the content of this article.
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I hope so.
--
[rbj@uunet 1] stty sane
unknown mode: sane