Per Hedeland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted [EMAIL PROTECTED], excerpted below, on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:29:51 +0100:
>>alias mv='mv -i' >>alias rm='rm -i' >>alias cp='cp -i' > > I really have to disagree with this, and I think Duncan alluded to the > problem in the part that you snipped: One day, at the worst possible > moment, you'll find yourself without those aliases. Maybe there was a > typo in your .bashrc that prevented those lines from being run, maybe > you've 'su -'ed to another user, maybe you're helping a co-worker typing > some commands into *his* shell... In the same vein, distributors that > set up those aliases by default are doing their users a huge disservice. You are correct. Besides what you mentioned, which is bad enough, there's the problem of removing directories. With -i by default, in a directory of more than a few files, that's a LOT of "y"s to type. The very human reaction is then to add the -f/force option to override, but then not only are you back where you started, but are even in WORSE shape, because force is worse in terms of possible accidents than a bare rm. So I prefer not to make -i the default in the first place. > Aliases are fine for avoiding a lot of boring typing, in particular if > they implement a "new command" - like your 'l' and 'll'. They're *not* > fine for *replacing* standard commands with ones that have radically > different semantics. Learn to work with the system instead - 'rm' *is* > dangerous for the unwary, if you can't handle that sit on your hands or > make a habit of using -i, or at least create a *differently named* > alias, like, uh, 'del'...:-) Learning it work with the system is indeed best. Someone else already mentioned auto-complete. I rely quite heavily on that as well. Another thing that I'll often do is type in the command initially with something harmless like ls. I can then do auto-complete without worrying about fat-fingering anything, and when it's showing what I want, even without ever hitting enter and completing the ls, I can hit home, then replace ls with rm and hit enter. If there's any doubt at all, I just hit enter on the ls and see listed exactly what it would have deleted. If it's what I intended, then I just hit the up-arrow (to bring back the last command), home, and /then/ do the switch to rm. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman _______________________________________________ Pan-users mailing list Pan-users@nongnu.org http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/pan-users
