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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!houxz!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!teklds!hercules!archiel
From: archiel@hercules.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.bugs.4bsd
Subject: rm and symbolic links (4.2)
Message-ID: <214@hercules.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Jun-84 18:52:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: hercules.214
Posted: Tue Jun  5 18:52:19 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 6-Jun-84 07:41:19 EDT
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 18

I just found out the hard way that if one runs "rm -r" on a directory that
contains a symbolic link, the object that the link points to gets removed
(recursively).  Since plain old "rm" run on a symbolic link removes the
link but NOT the object that it points to, I was surprised by this behavior
(no flames, please).

This behavior is, in my opinion, not obvious until after you've experienced it.
I am submitting this so that no one who reads it will be similarly surprised.
Be careful of this one.  It can really hurt!
-- 

				Archie Lachner
				Logic Design Systems Division
				Tektronix, Inc.

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