rm
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NAME
rm - remove files
SYNOPSIS
rm [-dfirvR] [--directory] [--force] [--interactive]
[--recursive] [--help] [--version] [--verbose] name...
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents the GNU version of rm. rm
removes each specified file. By default, it does not
remove directories.
If a file is unwritable, the standard input is a tty, and
the -f or --force option is not given, rm prompts the user
for whether to remove the file. If the response does not
begin with `y' or `Y', the file is skipped.
GNU rm, like every program that uses the getopt function
to parse its arguments, lets you use the -- option to
indicate that all following arguments are non-options. To
remove a file called `-f' in the current directory, you
could type either
rm -- -f
or
rm ./-f
The Unix rm program's use of a single `-' for this purpose
predates the development of the getopt standard syntax.
OPTIONS
-d, --directory
Remove directories with `unlink' instead of
`rmdir', and don't require a directory to be empty
before trying to unlink it. Only works for the
super-user. Because unlinking a directory causes
any files in the deleted directory to become unref-
erenced, it is wise to fsck the filesystem after
doing this.
-f, --force
Ignore nonexistent files and never prompt the user.
-i, --interactive
Prompt whether to remove each file. If the
response does not begin with `y' or `Y', the file
is skipped.
-r, -R, --recursive
Remove the contents of directories recursively.
-v, --verbose
Print the name of each file before removing it.
--help Print a usage message on standard output and exit
successfully.
--version
Print version information on standard output then
exit successfully.
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