Ever type “rm -rf dirname” and then realize you’ve just blown away the wrong directory? You can always alias the rm command to “rm -i”, but let’s look at a way that you can selectively determine which ...

When Apple announced the release of Mac OS X, many Mac users were stunned: here was a new operating system based on the venerable Unix, which, they feared, would call into question the Mac’s legendary ...

Learn how to use --dry-run in Linux commands like rsync, apt, and git. Preview changes before execution to avoid data loss.

Even if you’re brand new to Terminal, I hope someone has given you this valuable advice: Be very careful when using the rm command to remove files and folders! The Unix file and folder deletion tool ...

This article is reprinted from the book A Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming 3rd edition, with permission of the author and publisher ...