On: Unix Shell Programming: The Next 50 Years [pdf]

[pmoriarty]

"Not to mention how dangerous it is to use. Accidentally type the > symbol? Enjoy overwriting whichever file came after in the command."

At least in zsh, you can prevent such mistakes by

  setopt NO_CLOBBER

It's saved my bacon many times.

Also, from bitter experience I've forced myself to get in to the habit of never typing:

  rm *

but instead always doing:

  cd ..
  rm foo/*

It forces me to be more conscious of what I'm deleting.

[bccdee → pmoriarty]

I have `alias rm="echo DISABLED"` in my shell rc, and I have `trash` defined as a big shell function that safely moves stuff to the x desktop trash bin without clobbering anything. It's mildly irritating, but it gives me incredible peace of mind.

[teddyh → pmoriarty]

> in zsh […] setopt NO_CLOBBER

In Bash it’s

  set -o noclobber

or

  set -C

[gnubison → teddyh]

Those work in any POSIX shell, and also zsh.

[teddyh → gnubison]

It seems you are correct:

https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/V...