Author: Don

I started using Linux and open-source software in the late 1990s, and the more familiar I became with it, the more uses I saw for it, whether on the server side of our school system data infrastructure or software applications for students and teachers.

My contributions to our school system were significant. I developed a content filter using Suse Linux, Squid, and Squidguard and later enhanced it with Dansguardian. We lacked the funds for expensive servers, so I introduced Linux servers and Samba to create user home directories for our teachers. This provided a backup system for our teachers and saved the school system money.

Recognizing the disparity in software accessibility, I sought alternatives. Instead of relying on the special deals school systems get from proprietary software vendors, I introduced Open Office and later LibreOffice. We provided these software on CD-ROMs and later USB drives, empowering students and parents to install them on their home computers.

As we continued to benefit from this free software, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were taking more than we were giving. Our appreciation, though genuine, was not flowing upstream to the programmers who shared their work with us. This led me to ponder: how could we, as a school system, repay these open-source communities for the fruits of their labor?  

Within a year of my retirement in 2013, I received an invitation to attend All Things Open in Raleigh, NC. There, I was invited to join the team at Opensource.com as a ‘community moderator,’ a person who wrote articles about open-source software and open-source communities. At last, I was contributing to the communities and folks whose work I had been benefitting from for the previous fifteen years.

Coding is not my long suit, but writing is something that comes more naturally, and in the next eight years, I wrote almost three hundred articles about the various aspects of open-source software and open-source communities. I became part of a growing community of writers from all over the world. It became one of the most fulfilling avocations of my life. Opensource.com was shuttered in May of 2023, but the writers’ community lives on both.org and TechnicallyWeWrite.com. You can quickly become part of these vibrant writing communities.

In addition, there are other ways to contribute to the open source community. You can contribute to open source projects and communities using Patreon, PayPal, and other forms of payment for communities such as Fedora, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, GnuCash, and LibreOffice.

The “rm” command in Linux is a powerful tool for deleting files and directories. While it may seem simple, mastering this command requires understanding its various options and potential pitfalls. Early on in my Linux journey, I managed an Apache web server and needed to remove files occasionally. That is when I became familiar with the ‘rm’ command. It’s very effective, but its misuse can be devastating without understanding the basics and having proper respect for the command.

Understanding the Basics

The rm command stands for “remove.” Its primary function is to delete files and directories from the filesystem. The basic syntax is:

rm [options] file...

For example, to remove a file named example.txt, you would use:

rm example.txt

Removing Multiple Files

You can remove multiple files at once by listing them separated by spaces:

rm file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

Using Wildcards

Wildcards allow you to remove multiple files that match a specific pattern. For instance, to remove all .txt files in a directory, you can use:

rm *.txt

 Removing Directories

It would help if you used the -r (recursive) option to remove directories. This tells rm to remove the directory and its contents:

rm -r directory_name

Be cautious with this option, as it will delete everything within the specified directory.

Force Deletion

The -f (force) option allows you to remove files without prompting for confirmation. This is useful for scripts or when you want to bypass confirmation prompts:

rm -f file_name

Combining Options

You can combine options to perform more complex deletions. For example, to forcefully remove a directory and its contents without confirmation, use:

rm -rf directory_name

Safety Tips

Practical Examples

Removing Log Files:

$ rm -rf /var/log/*.log

Removing Temporary Files:

rm -rf ~/tmp/*

Deleting Old Backups:

rm -rf /backups/backup-*.tar.gz

 I had serious file system trouble using ‘rm—rf’ inside my root partition. There is no undoing such a move, and you can quickly render your operating system and its files useless or worse. Always double-check your commands, use interactive mode when needed, and create backups of important data. With these tips, you’ll be well on mastering the rm command. Check the man pages on your Linux system for more information.