

Ask HN: Should "delete" be renamed to "unlink" or "unreference"? - vezzy-fnord

So, everyone here should be aware that deleting (or removing&#x2F;rm&#x27;ing) a file merely deindexes it from the file system along with its metadata, but the raw data still resides in the blocks. Thus, trivial measures like these which do not involve overwriting or any drive damage&#x2F;malfunction are easily recoverable through various methods.<p>Yet despite data recovery being a prolific field both as an enterprise and having widespread software dedicated to it, a lot of users are still unaware and believe that a Shift+Delete is game over.<p>My question is: will renaming &quot;delete&quot; to something more accurate like &quot;unlink&quot; or &quot;unreference&quot; shift user perception as to the underlying remanence of their data? Then, in addition, an operating system should provide a &quot;shred&quot; or &quot;secure remove&quot; option to go alongside.<p>While this may obviously be problematic for intelligence agencies who do not want everyone to have a modicum of decent security practices, will a name change like that have any feasible paradigm shift in the way users think about file deletion? That, and it is more pedantic.
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krapp
I think the terminology of "unlink" and "unreference" might be too esoteric
for typical users - I'm thinking of my mother who can just about manage
putting up pictures on facebook and email through Outlook Express.

Pairing "delete" with a "secure delete" option in some cases might work, but I
don't think renaming the option is going to change behavior.

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raquo
OS X does have a "secure empty trash" feature.

"Unlink" is a scary meaningless word for an average Joe. Probably has
something to do with those Internet links he keeps hearing about.

People won't care about securely deleting their files unless they get burnt or
they see someone get burnt on Fox News.

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informatimago
1- the user command name is "rm". It is not a dictionary word, for several
reasons. It is not the abbreviation of delete either. 2- the syscall is named
unlink. What more do you want? Who is not aware of the semantics of this
operation?

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erichurkman
What about just flipping operating system defaults to shred by default after
emptying the trash [recycle bin]?

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vezzy-fnord
That would be uncalled for, however. A user might knowingly delete (unlink)
their files as a sort of temporary hiding measure against a dumb adversary
without forensic knowledge (say, family members), before restoring them.

Having two distinct options is a more preferable method. Certain files can
have different deletion flags in the trash.

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erichurkman
I think a user that uses deleted files to hide information could be classified
as a power user: give them an option to enable unsecure file deletes if they
really want to. That seems like a crazily tiny use case.

For the average user, though, I'd rather make them more secure by default.

