NAME

rm, rmdir  − remove (unlink) files

SYNOPSIS

rm [ −fri ] file ... 

rmdir dir ... 

DESCRIPTION

Rm removes the entries for one or more files from a directory.  If an entry was the last link to the file, the file is destroyed.  Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory, but neither read nor write permission on the file itself. 

If a file has no write permission and the standard input is a terminal, its permissions are printed and a line is read from the standard input.  If that line begins with ‘y’ the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains.  No questions are asked when the −f (force) option is given. 

If a designated file is a directory, an error comment is printed unless the optional argument −r has been used.  In that case, rm recursively deletes the entire contents of the specified directory, and the directory itself. 

If the −i (interactive) option is in effect, rm asks whether to delete each file, and, under −r, whether to examine each directory. 

Rmdir removes entries for the named directories, which must be empty. 

SEE ALSO

unlink(2)

DIAGNOSTICS

Generally self-explanatory.  It is forbidden to remove the file ‘..’ merely to avoid the antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like ‘rm −r .∗’. 

7th Edition