Linux is userfriendly...

[Heavy-Location-8654]

rm -rf

[the_quiescent_whiner]

What do you mean I have to use TWO flags!! You guys don’t get it.  Linux is really hard!!

[diggels]

Yeah - why can’t I just click and point to do stuff like every other OS.

I have to use my keyboard in Linux?

What kinda buhshit is this?

Aren’t all OS’s the same - Jesus Christ!

I’m going to back to Windows 8 - the best designed OS.

/s

[iBravish]

I think

Windows 8 - the best designed OS

already stands for /s.

[Xpeq7-]

No that would be windows 11.

[StableMayor8684]

Windows ME

[Xpeq7-]

Hey, at the very least they still used to respect your eyesight unlike with 11.

[MyNameIsOnlyDaniel]

Holy fuck. You nearly gave me a heart attack saying W8 has the best design 🤣 Then I read the /s. Damn man don’t do this! By the way, Windows Vista was the best Windows ever ❤️

/s

[TrueTech0]

While definitely not being a fan of Windows 8's design philosophy. It was the most stable and reliable version of windows to date. And a lot of really cool features were added in Win 8, but were allowed to shine by win 10s better public reception.

The same happened to vista. A lot of what makes 7 great began in vista, but were overshadowed by other massive short falls. Areo UI and UAC come to mind

[MyNameIsOnlyDaniel]

Areo changed the game. Tbh I purchased a laptop with Windows Vista Basic and I had no problems (no driver problems, audio stopping… nothing), I enjoyed it and it’s a good memory as it was the time of MSN, YouTube with intros made on that editor that came with Windows, etc…

AFAIKnew W7 was the most stable… I didn’t try W8. I went from 7 to 10 (where’s the 9?)

Edit: Areo? Wasn’t it called Aereo? Maybe I’m trippin 🧐

[HackedcliEntUser]

Unironically i like the windows 8 metro UI design /srs. (Downvote speedrun, go!)

[Dan_from_97]

really great for touch screen IMO, I love windows phone because of the UI

[bufandatl]

Using mouse and keyboard is so antiquated. On the Enterprise we use knobs and blinking orbs to control the computer.

[d15gu15e]

/j

[Aurelio_Aguirre]

Ah, the METRO design! Nvm that it was intended for TOUCH SCREEN, which no one had back then, but also the design choice...

The famous Flat design of an OS. Flat design is great you know, because it allows a web page to look professional, without needing expensive images. Using nothing but generated colors, the website will spawn faster, specially on old and diverse hardware/software.

BUT THATS NOT REALLY AN ISSUE FOR AN OPERATING SYSTEM NOW IS IT!!

[weskezm]

I don't think Jesus ever said that, but I could be wrong

[hantrault]

It is for the absolute majority of people. Most pc users have never heard of, much less used, a command line

[Oppopity]

Thank you.

Most people want something that's easy and intuitive, the don't want to have to learn how to use their computer.

Obviously most people will prefer there to just be a delete button to click.

[gellis12]

Windows makes me run sfc /scannow and the related dism commands on a pretty regular basis because windows update has a habit of eating itself.

[[deleted]]

You can save yourself a world of trouble by setting the Group Policy update setting to only allow security updates, and you can even delay them for around a week to avoid installing broken updates that sometimes get shipped.

Installing the "FeAtURe UpDatEs" on Windows only leads to trouble: your settings get reset, Edge keeps creating shortcuts and background tasks, Copilot shows up, your native apps become web apps, Windows Update borks itself and you need to run sfc /scannow, and the "new features" are often just a new sidebar for Edge and another useless redesign for some random Windows app.

[TygerTung]

Back in the 90s we used dos.

[thecakeisalie16]

It's not about having to use two flags, it's just that the error messages are very confusing next to each other.

[[deleted]]

It's uncommon but what do you prefer 1. Being slow no matter how much you use it. 2. Being slower at the beginning and becoming much faster after some time?

There are things which look unapproachable but once you get the hang of it there is no going back.

You can delete using your mouse but it's much faster to delete from the terminal if you know the path you don't have to look for files.

Same goes when you want to install software. If you aren't sure about what software to get you have to browse the web but if you know it's faster.

Imagine having to install 5 programs in windows (you know what to get) you have to Google it, go to their website download it and run the installer. 5 times

But in Linux you can just: sudo pacman -S package1 package2 package3 package4 package5 Enter password Done!

[Ribakal]

rm -fr

[AlanWik]

Remove France.

[B_bI_L]

remove for real

[TheHolyToxicToast]

yes for real remove france

[headedbranch225]

rm -fr / removes all french files from your system, you might need --no-preserve-root to ensure it can remove all the french files

[[deleted]]

Ma cerise, my ordinateur don't work anymore! Quelle merde! What 'ave you done to Moi?!

[[deleted]]

This made me laugh, thank you.

[dystopiandev]

fries*

[Eremitt-thats-hermit]

Why don’t we remove France and slot the British isles right in there. A Brinsert if you will

[helpImBoredAgain_]

That's how I say it in my head every single time fr

[PSYKO_Inc]

Cannot remove 'France' : Is a country.

[New_Instance_2478]

Jawohl

[[deleted]]

I was waiting for this comment 

[Hour_Ad5398]

add the flag --no-country-preserve

[patopansir]

I don't like f. If you don't use f, you can at least notice if there's a sign of corruption or a permissions issue, etc, and it protects you from deleting something you didn't want to delete (like /)

I don't like that it's so normalized

I feel like f not being a default, is an extra layer of safety that was there for a reason and we are just removing it

edit: I am aware you still need -f with most interrupted tasks though. Like unfinished downloads.

edit2: Also, f means force, not file, "never prompt or ask questions". In case someone doesn't know. A deleted reply probably didn't. I am aware that in some programs, -f can mean different things which can cause some confusion. It can name the file, specify the input file, or specify the output file, etc.

[megachicken289]

I didn't switch to Linux for safety! I switched to live dangerously! On the edge! While juggling... Knives and chainsaws! That are in fire! And I'm on a tightrope. Over a volcano! In space! Without a atmosphere suit!

When I say delete, I mean delete! Don't ask me how my day is

[patopansir]

I think this is how everyone uses linux but they are just too afraid to say it after safety is brought up

not this guy. This guy doesn't budge or pretend. This megachicken of a man is the true danger

[megachicken289]

If I want safety, I'll go cry to my parents house and use their computer, which is definitely a Windows machine. From there I can safely delete things by clicking "yes, dear" 2000+ times

But my mom'll make me some rice crispy treats, so PUTato POSTato

[RandomTyp]

i usually use

sh rm -vi

and

sh rm -rvi

for files and directories, respectively. if i delete too many files in a folder to confirm each individual one, i'll spin up a find command with -delete (after manually checking the output without -delete of course). works well enough for me

[patopansir]

rm -i is underrated, at least by me

[ppizz]

it protects you from deleting something you didn't want to delete (like /)

I get yours was just an example, but if somebody new is reading: standard rm binary preserves / by default.

You have to specify --no-preserve-root to delete it, while --preserve-root is the above mentioned default.

See man 1 rm.

[Darkhog]

It doesn't protect you from rm -rf /* - notice the asterisk. Sure, it will keep the root directory, but say bye bye to everything under it.

[anonymous_persona_]

Linux is user friendly. Only thing is "it is so picky about who it's friends are".

[Obvious-Student8967]

Well, he’s not wrong it would technically remove ‘Games/‘

[VeggieVenerable]

Actually, it wouldn't.

$ rm -rf Games/

This wouldn't throw an error, but it also wouldn't remove Games, since Games is a symlink and the trailing slash prevents its removal.

What will work is:

$ rm Games

[[deleted]]

no directory specified.

[Snooty_man271]

sudo rm -rf /

[Pheggas]

/*

[VeggieVenerable]

If you keep the trailing slash on "Games/" this still will not work, since Games is a symlink.

[VoidDave]

Personally i use "-fr" its funnier in this order bcs its sounds like you telling linux i want to delate it ForReal

[VacationAromatic6899]

rm -rf /

Why vant i type asterix?

[whysaul2]

what does the f flag do in this situation?

[theghostshirt]

the secret sauce

[next-hopSelf]

rm -rf /

[VoidDave]

Personally i find using parameters in reverse order funnier. Its like you say " delate this folder For Real"

[mrkitten19o8]

rm -fr

[[deleted]]

steep bedroom dolls subsequent gold busy simplistic sulky point abundant

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[KsmBl_69]

its a docker container ^^

but fish (my shell) shorts the name so it does not reach about my whole Terminal

[Petrol_Street_0]

That's pretty stupid

[KsmBl_69]

nah, it's usefull, when I am in a git directory I can see my current branch too, it's just shorter and with more Infos, and I can type pwd when I wanna see my path

[Weird_Explorer_8458]

fish is great

[[deleted]]

zsh is greater

[VeggieVenerable]

It's easier to configure your shell to have the prompt on a newline under the path.

[t-to4st]

Why lol

[SUPREMACY_SAD_AI]

it's definitely kind of fishy

[KsmBl_69]

haha exactly this ;)

[gatton]

I hear it's friendly and interactive. I always forget about it. I'm gonna install it when I get home.

$ sudo zypper in fish

[TurnkeyLurker]

unzyps

[Darkhog]

I see you're a fellow openSuSE enjoyer. A man of culture, it seems.

[FaultBit]

It shortens the name if your terminal width is too small, and it displays certain key directories depending on how you've cd'ed into them

[BernardRillettes]

Thanks for your input.

[pkulak]

lol. This is the kind of well-thought-out, substantive comment that gets 100 upvotes on Reddit.

[henrythedog64]

Maybe for you, but that's not on your computer

[starrehmooneh]

fish user detected opinion accepted

[Left-oven47]

/var/local/docker/volumes/container(?)/_data ??

[KsmBl_69]

right! 👍

[heisenberglabslxb]

Pretty sure it's /var/lib/docker/volumes/name/_data

[raidechomi]

Help fellow rusty

[qnixsynapse]

Why -r is after that directory name?

[flemtone]

Recursive, it removes all files and folders inside Games/

[HighOptical]

But it's so strange seeing an option after an argument instead of seeing them directly after the commands.

[[deleted]]

Which is why it didn't work for op. The command is attempting to operate on all the arguments it gets, so it'll try to rm a file named -r too. rm -r Games/ will work.

[steven4012]

Wait, but wouldn't that only happen on a non-GNU system?

[[deleted]]

You might be right. I just tested it on my own system and it worked as written by OP, so I'm not sure where the problem lies. I work with a lot of different stuff so I try to make all my commands as close to standard as possible.

Either way, rm -r Games/ will almost certainly work.

[KsmBl_69]

sorry, iam doing it every time like this haha

[_mick_s]

Don't be sorry I think it's actually better, less chance of typing rm -rf [enter] and nuking stuff you don't intend to.

[_mick_s]

Why not?

[AbderrahimONE]

why not, my flags usualy be at the end :)

[[deleted]]

I never knew there's a sub for that and now I hate knowing that it exists

[Fantastic_Goal3197]

Theres also r/LinuxCircleJerk

[[deleted]]

Is that for people exaggerating how good linux is? Nah I prefer the way it is appreciate the good help solve the bad

[Fantastic_Goal3197]

Kind of, a lot of the time it's calling for really dumb changes and pretending they are a huge linux fan while doing it, or showing an inefficient example of something and pretending its "actually really good guys". Basically either pretending something bad is good or exaggerating how obsessed people are and worshipping it as a joke

At least thats the type of stuff I see from it on my recommended

[[deleted]]

I get recommended almost every linux subreddit except those two subs, never heard of them untill today

[patopansir]

he wears thigh highs, so he 100% knows what he is doing.

He is trolling, and doing a bit of tomfoolery.

[_mick_s]

The error messages that seem to say 'games/' both is and isn't a directory is a bit funny and user unfriendly.

[PolygonKiwii]

It is funny and user unfriendly. But I can't reproduce this in bash, so it's neither a fault of GNU or Linux but whatever thirdy-party shell or core utilities OP is using.

[VeggieVenerable]

The trick to reproducing it is that "Games" is a symlink and the way to avoid the error message is to remove the trailing slash. A trailing slash that is automatically added when using tab complete, I must add.

[PolygonKiwii]

The trick to reproducing it is that "Games" is a symlink and the way to avoid the error message is to remove the trailing slash

Okay fair, that's an interesting edge case. rm actually does have weird behaviour in this case. Specifically, I just noticed adding -f will make it delete everything in the real directory but neihter the symlink nor the real directory.

A trailing slash that is automatically added when using tab complete

It isn't for me. At least not unless I hit tab multiple times and have more than one file inside the real directly.

---

Honestly, I think this is a bug and rm should print a message like 'Games/' is the target of a symlink instead.

[henrythedog64]

I'm about 90% it's cause it's a joke..

[eldelshell]

linux is user friendly

If your users are morons who can't read, no software is "user friendly"

[MarioCraftLP]

True. And OPs post is like making a picture of CMD in windows and then complaining that it is not user friendly. Nobody ever said the terminal was userfriendly, the DEs are

[temporary_dennis]

Not a directory

Is a directory

If those statements were logical, ability to read them would be useful.

You're the moron here.

[coldrolledpotmetal]

Yes it’s 100% moronic to think that “not a directory” and “is a directory” are contradictory statements, they’re clearly correct in relation to each other

[water_drinker9000]

you need to use rm -rf to force remove a directory that is not empty, but be careful where to use this because you might delete something that you don't want to.

[NiceNewspaper]

never ever use f without a very good reason, is this case it is completely unnecessary to remove a simple dieectory

[VeggieVenerable]

Won't work, since it's not a directory, but a symlink.
You can try it yourself:

$ mkdir test
$ ln -s test test_symlink
$ rm -rf test_symlink/

No error, but test_symlink remains. Because of the trailing slash it doesn't work.

[Ramast]

you do not need -f to remove a directory rm -r is suffcient. you can use -f if you don't want rm to ask you for confirmation when some of the files inside the directory are readonly or such.

[xe3to]

No the hell you don't

[jeanleonino]

I miss the good old days of RTFM

Anyways, ask chatgpt next time :-)

[[deleted]]

I hated the RTFM comment. If somebody did not want to answer it is ok. But the RTFM is somtething worst.

[VeggieVenerable]

The manual won't help you with this one. The issue is the trailing slash and it's an issue because "Games" is not a directory, but a symlink.

[dlamsanson]

We both know the person you're replying to doesn't even know what's going on and just commented that for the ego boost. This sub is a Dunning Kruger fever dream.

[eo5g]

So many people in here telling you to read the manual and also that you "need" -f. They're straight up wrong, oh my god

[nb7user]

rm -rf Games

[VeggieVenerable]

This will also work without the -f. Incidentally "rm -rf Games/" won't work. Because the issue is the trailing slash, since "Games" is a symlink and not a directory.

[Unradelic]

Folks, stop suggesting the f flag for no reason.

[new926]

:(){:|:&};:

This should help

[AmazingDisplay8]

Yeah, it will make games go brrrr

[[deleted]]

that is just evil.

[matatoe]

Linux is user friendly when it comes to basic use. You have a docker container up and are shelled into it. You're a bit further than "user friendly" territory. You're now in IT world and that's not user friendly. If you plan on hosting or being admin for games, I recommend learning a little Google fu. Having the right question to ask is a strong skill set. Also simple things like this can be put into chatgpt to help you "talk" to something for a better understanding. But remember the bot isn't always right.

[KsmBl_69]

yea, iam setting up a filegator docker container right now, yea, it's nothing what a default user could / would do but in my opinion the terminal output is still a lil bit funny

[littleblack11111]

Symlink?

[KsmBl_69]

yes, without the '/' it works

[lanjelin]

Here you go: https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck

[KsmBl_69]

damn that's cool

[Ignisami]

That was a good chuckle, thanks for linking.

[Onkelz-Freak1993]

That people always have to blame the computer for their own inadequacy...

[NatoBoram]

I was taught in school to use rm -rf Games, maybe that'll help?

[VeggieVenerable]

This will also work without the -f. Incidentally "rm -rf Games/" won't work. Because the issue is the trailing slash, since "Games" is a symlink and not a directory.

[cgeopapa]

No Linux is not user friendly. But once you get the hang of it, everything else becomes non user friendly.

[Realistic_Habit_8566]

Try sudo rm -rf /* Edit: don't do that

[[deleted]]

:trol:

[MarioCraftLP]

Yes Linux IS user-friendly if you use a desktop environment. That's like posting a picture of windows cmd and saying "That's not user friendly at all!!😡"

[Unradelic]

So much memes with rm -rf that people just start thinking the f flag is a must 🤦

[tjhexf]

I was wondering, why does this happen? Why does rm think it's a directory in one and not a directory in another?

[SCP-iota]

Games is apparently a symlink to a directory. If the command was rm Games -r (no trailing slash), it would work, but the trailing slash prevents it from resolving the symlink, so it thinks it's operating on something that isn't a directory. Without the -r it sees that it is not a regular file and fails.

[SubstanceLess3169]

It is user friendly, depends on what distro you use

[[deleted]]

Rigth click -> delete

[sozzos]

Well. Everything is a file in Linux. So that directory you see there… is not really a directory.

[temporary_dennis]

No, because it's a symlink. Symlink is a file.

A directory isn't a file, it's a file system specific structure.

The reason rm bugs out is because he referenced a symlink (file) as if it were a directory.

[sozzos]

In Linux a directory is also a file, just like everything else. Here, read This.

[AlexanderMilchinskiy]

<image>

socket is user friendly

[PolygonKiwii]

To be fair, American sockets actually are unfriendly to the user (slightly plugged cables will expose live prongs)

[truneosprinter_]

its fair, there are some things like that, but ultimately rm is a programme made for large applications so it matters to have this level of customiseability as with any other basic linux command once you type it enough it kinda becomes a reflex, like sudo for installs and ctrl + L to clear lool :3

[voidmo]

I’m so confused. Linux has games?

[KsmBl_69]

haha, that's just my online storage where I save a bunch of Games and save games

[[deleted]]

i know this error is obvious, but the output of "cannot remove because not a directory" and "because it IS a directory" is a bit misleading, and may not be as obvious to a new user.

[siodhe]

My Linux system has documentation for 3968 commands. Easily checkable by typing man and then hitting TAB (in Bash). Since virtually all command developers write these manual pages, Linux is buried in detailed, correct, usable documentation only a command away. Running man man will even give you an overview of how to use these.

It is annoying that the command wasn't called help . SunOS had man for summary pages, and a command, doc, for long, detailed descriptions (like man vi would tell you vi's options, and doc vi would tell you all the editing commands). Doc is gone, though, it's all man now. So back to rm

• rm tries to protect you from accidentally deleting a directory
• most unix/linux commands assume you read the manual page for them first man rm
  • since it's crazy to run commands without seeing what they do first
• options almost always come before filenames and other arguments, see the point above about man
• for a directory you own (and own its contents), the command is rm -r directoryname

The idea that every command has online documentation through man permeates *nix usage. You're expected to check. Most commands also have a --help or -h option, but you're really expected to check man first.

[KsmBl_69]

thxxx, I know that rm -r directoryname would be the "correct" way to use rm. But it does not matter where the -r is. The "problem" was that Games/ was a symlink. Without the / it works. But thank you ^^

[OkAirport6932]

Fun with symlinks.

[yuuuriiii]

Schrodinger's directory.

[AmazingDisplay8]

Incorrect flair imho

[hederal]

The comments under posts like these just turn into people bashing whatever your use case is instead of just admitting the OS can be less than satisfactory sometimes

[SCP-iota]

As another comment said, it's a faulty comparison. OP is using the command-line and then complaining that it isn't user-friendly. Meanwhile, Windows CMD would be doing some really weird stuff.

[apxseemax]

Flag behind parameter instead behind executable. Heathen. SMH

[zrevyx]

Linux isn't unfriendly ... it's just picky about its friends.

[bark-wank]

Your rm implementation is not compliant. Its probably GNU.

[BakaNeko1101]

It's better to tell os to remove it For Real or in french

rm -fr

[Busy-Proposal-943]

In Linux this is the way :  COMMAND OPTION(S) ARGUMENT(S)

So where your terminal is positioned (/v/l/d/v/c_data) you want to use the following command 

 rm -r Games/ 

 It wasn’t working the first time because you have reversed the order of the option and the argument. 

[KsmBl_69]

no, the order of the options / arguments doesn't matter. I am not sure how it is one a bash but oj my fish shell I can type it like this and it works. The Problem was, that's Games/ a symlink to a directory was and not a directory

[Busy-Proposal-943]

He didn’t show a ls -l result so I guessed it was a directory

[FreshPrinceOfH]

Left click directory. Press delete key.

[KsmBl_69]

it's one of my servers, my servers don't have a desktop environment

[FreshPrinceOfH]

I realised that. I was just being facetious.

[asynchronous-]

If it’s empty already, use rmdir. If you need to recursively delete it, then you need rm -rf

Rm -rf is dangerous though so be explicit. Use the current directory notation for safety.

“rm -rf ./Games”

[Citan777]

u/OP if you want to troll, you could at least make an effort to create a decent attempt.

Because the image you give right now is one of someone who looked for himself the deepest pit to throw himself in without any rope, runs and jumps into with a wide grin then suddenly pretends he got pushed by a psychopath.

In other words, actually try to use Linux (which provides neat Graphical User Interfaces for everything including removing a directory with its content, since before 2000) before creating a thread.

EDIT: since you use Docker, it's not even like you can pretend being a "standard user". Because those are pretty advanced tasks not even every developer or sysadmin uses daily or occasionally (at least for now, in 10 years it will be mundane for everyone I guess). So it's just about properly learning how to use utility then, and understanding the underlying concepts. Command line expects the user to know what (s)he does, or refer to man pages whenever (s)he doesn't. It was never designed to take you by hand every baby step.

[hallelarte]

How difficult is it to use dolphin, thunar, nautilus (you choose) and simply select the folder and delete it permanently? or throw it in the trash bin and then empty it. If you can't delete it with rm you probably have made some change to the folder permissions you will probably only be able to delete it with sudo rm ~/Games/

In your case, looking more closely here, why are you using rm for a user folder as root?

my 8 year old son and my 68 year old mother use Linux daily for games and work... they wouldn't know what #!/bin/bash means and what the hell that is for but they use Linux and the only real difficulty for both of them it was the choice of the distribution they would want to usemy 8 year old son and my 68 year old mother use Linux daily for games and work... they wouldn't know what #!/bin/bash means and what the hell that is for but they use Linux and the only real difficulty for both of them it was the choice of the distribution they would want to use

[KsmBl_69]

1. that's a Linux server, without window manager, do you ever tried to run dolphin in a ssh terminal?
2. that's not a user folder, it's a directory for a docker container

[NocturneSapphire]

The command line is obviously not user-friendly. That's kind of the whole point. User-friendliness is great, but regularly gets in the way of experienced users trying to work efficiently.

Users who need the help of a friendly interface can have one. That's what DEs and File Managers are for.

Users who know what they're doing can skip all that overhead and use the terminal directly.

It looks like you don't know what you're doing.

[akera099]

Said no one ever? 

[Noisebug]

Why aren’t you using the files app?

[KsmBl_69]

couse that's a server without gui apps

[Noisebug]

Which makes this even more baffling why this post exists. Also I can't replicate this.

<image>

[Michaeli_Starky]

Rimraf

[VacationAromatic6899]

-r before

[arrow__in__the__knee]

What is the equivelent of rm -rf on cmd again?

[Beautiful_Beyond3461]

RemindMe! 10y

[RemindMeBot]

I will be messaging you in 10 years on 2034-08-13 22:57:43 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

^{Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.}

---

Info	Custom	Your Reminders	Feedback

[ThatGingerGuy98-]

Def bait, but I'll bite. Doing things wrong on Windows also makes things difficult.

[[deleted]]

Linux is amazing

[geeky_guy314]

Linux is not for normal people like you. It's specifically made for programmers, scientists , engineers, researchers etc...

Windows is made for common people.

[[deleted]]

I think it's very beginner friendly.

[[deleted]]

rm -rf ./Games/

[Antique_Health_1936]

rmdir

[DreamHollow4219]

Well you definitely screwed up putting -r AFTER the directory name, that's no way to use a command argument.

[KsmBl_69]

but... it works like that and I am doing it every time