unbelievably stupid mistake - i broke /usr/lib need help

[Robin Laing]

Jeff Vian wrote:
> On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 13:19 -0700, Robin Laing wrote:
> 
>>Mike McCarty wrote:
>>
>>>Robin Laing wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
 >More snips.<

>>The first thing I usually do is make an aliases for rm, cp and mv to 
>>ask for confirmation.
>>
>>alias rm='rm -i'
> 
> 
> This is the default setting for root (you can check by running 'alias')
> and takes effect when you do an 'su -'.  However, the -f overrides that
> (man rm).
>

I know that -f overides everything.  I got into the habit before rm 
used to do that.  I also do it for all accounts as default.

> The OP used rm -rf so it would not have mattered at all if the -i option
> was set by default.  His typo was a bit destructive.
> 
> 
>>alias cp='cp -i --backup=t'
>>alias mv='mv -i --backup=t'
> 
> The addition of the --backup option for mv might be nice.  'cp -i' and
> 'mv -i' are already aliases for root. 
> 
> Why would I want a backup of a file I am copying?  I am already making a
> copy and not changing the original.
> 
Sometimes I have multiple copies of files from different places.  If I 
am copying off of a CD and just by chance the file is different or 
corrupt I have a backup to compare with.  Again it goes with the 
response to large number of files.  It has saved my but more than once 
when doing a "cp -rf" of a directory tree.

>    [root at eagle SL]#  alias
>    alias cp='cp -i'
>    alias l.='ls -d .* --color=tty'
>    alias ll='ls -l --color=tty'
>    alias ls='ls --color=tty'
>    alias mv='mv -i'
>    alias rm='rm -i'
>    alias which='alias | /usr/bin/which --tty-only --read-alias
> --show-dot --show-tilde'
> 
> This is the default list of aliases configured for root on my FC4
> system.
> 
> 
>>I wonder if there is a way to disable the "-f" option in rm as root.
>>
> 
> I would not want to!  Using the -f option implies you know what you are
> trying to do.  
> 
> If you did it would take a reply to a prompt for *each* file being
> deleted.  Imagine if you were removing a large directory tree!  Even
> several hundred files would be extremely irritating (and doing software
> development can easily result in a tree of that size quickly).
> 
> My rule of thumb is *always check what you type*, then *think* before
> hitting the enter key.  This was a hard learned lesson from some time
> back with a typo that left my command "rm -rf / ......." using a full
> path to a file.  And you *know* what that did ;-(.
> 
How about a second prompt something like "Your are root, are you sure 
you want to delete using the force option?" as a one time prompt.  Of 
course if the terminal screen was different, it would be a reminder.

> 
>>I also want to look at the terminal settings and see if I can get the 
>>background to change when I su.
>>
> 
> That is a very good idea.  An extra reminder that you are in a dangerous
> environment.
>