I accidentally untarred archive intended to be extracted in root directory, which among others included some files for /etc directory.
I went on to rm -rv ~/etc, but I quickly typed rm -rv /etc instead, and hit enter, while using a root account.

  • ThanksForAllTheFish@sh.itjust.works
    52·
    14 hours ago

    The biggest flaw with cars is when they crash. When I crash my car due to user error, because I made a small mistake, this proves that cars are dangerous. Some other vehicles like planes get around this by only allowing trusted users to do dangerous actions, why can’t cars be more like planes? /s

    Always backup important data, always have the ability to restore your backups. If rm doesn’t get it, ransomware or a bad/old drive will.

    A sysadmin deleting /bin is annoying, but it shouldn’t take them more than a few mins to get a fresh copy from a backup or a donor machine. Or to just be more careful instead.

    • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
      1·
      8 hours ago

      Unix aficionados accept occasional file deletion as normal. For example, consider following excerpt from the comp.unix.questions FAQ:
      6) How do I “undelete” a file?
      Someday, you are going to accidentally type something like:
      % rm * .foo
      and find you just deleted “*” instead of “*.foo”. Consider it a rite of passage.
      Of course, any decent systems administrator should be doing regular backups. Check with your sysadmin to see if a recent backup copy of your file is available

      “A rite of passage”? In no other industry could a manufacturer take such a cavalier attitude toward a faulty product. “But your honor, the exploding gas tank was just a rite of passage.”

      There’s a reason sane programs ask for confirmation for potentially dangerous commands