[ale] delete all files but leave folder structure intact

[Geoffrey Myers]

Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> No my original premise was simply to warn a newbie never try to match
> with ".*" because it does bad things.

Uh, hate to be picky, but, I quote:

"Also be sure NEVER to do "rm .*" in any directory.   Many a newbie has
surprised themselves by trying to remove .profile, .bashrc .mozilla
etc... that way.

The ".*" will match ".." which is a hard link to the parent directory so
tells it to remove a directory above."


> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
> Geoffrey Myers
> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 1:28 PM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] delete all files but leave folder structure intact
> 
> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>> No but it can remove the other files/directories below the parent.
> 
> True, but the original premise was it would remove $HOME when executed 
> from $HOME.
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
>> Geoffrey Myers
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 12:23 PM
>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>> Subject: Re: [ale] delete all files but leave folder structure intact
>>
>> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>>> Picky picky
>>>
>>> Then don't ever do "rm -rf .*"
>> Sorry, still won't remove the directory you're sitting in:
>>
>> centosvmfoo> rm -rf .*
>> rm: cannot remove `.' or `..'
>> rm: cannot remove `.' or `..'
>>
>> :)
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Geoffrey Myers
>>> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 7:50 AM
>>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>>> Subject: Re: [ale] delete all files but leave folder structure intact
>>>
>>> Lightner, Jeff wrote:
>>>> Also be sure NEVER to do "rm .*" in any directory.   Many a newbie
>> has
>>>> surprised themselves by trying to remove .profile, .bashrc .mozilla
>>>> etc... that way.
>>> Pretty sure that's not going to work as since you're in the
> directory,
>>> you can't remove it.  Further, you can't remove a directory with 'rm'
> 
>>> without the recursive option.
>>>
>>>
>>>> The ".*" will match ".." which is a hard link to the parent
> directory
>>> so
>>>> tells it to remove a directory above.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
>>>> Michael B. Trausch
>>>> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 3:46 PM
>>>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>>>> Subject: Re: [ale] delete all files but leave folder structure
> intact
>>>> On 04/18/2011 03:22 PM, Ed Cashin wrote:
>>>>> To read into your question a bit, I'll assume you'd like to remove
>>>>> special files and symbolic links and named fifos as well as regular
>>>>> files.
>>>>>
>>>>>   find xyz ! -type d -print0 | xargs -0 rm
>>>> Nice.  I hadn't thought of that.
>>>>
>>>> 	--- Mike
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>>  
>>>> Proud partner. Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
>>>>  
>>>> Please consider our environment before printing this e-mail or
>>> attachments.
>>>> ----------------------------------
>>>> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail may contain privileged or
>>> confidential information and is for the sole use of the intended
>>> recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure,
>>> copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is
>>> prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this electronic
>>> transmission in error, please reply immediately to the sender that
> you
>>> have received the message in error, and delete it. Thank you.
>>>> ----------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
> 
> 


-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson