Question about mkdir

[LinuxNewbie12]

Hi Guys,

First post and new to Linux so hope someone can help me. I have been asked what is the issue with running "rm -Rf / mytmpdir;" ?

and I can't figure it out? Is it a trick question?

[Irithori]

Kind of, as the first command lures you on a false way.
I will not solve it for you, as it sounds like a homework question and it is also not that hard to figure out

Just two hints:
1) Do not execute that, especially not as root.
2) Read the man page

man rm

[LinuxNewbie12]

awwwwwwwwwww its so quicker to learn when told the answer

Did you mean read the "main" page?

[LinuxNewbie12]

I'm assuming it copies to main directory to a temp and then the main gets erased? Is that right?

[Irithori]

no, manual page

(almost) any linux command has at least one, and a lot of other topics as well.
It´s usually the first ressource one reads to gather information.

Open a terminal and type

man rm

[Irithori]

I'm assuming it copies to main directory to a temp and then the main gets erased? Is that right?

Well, the second part is right.

[LinuxNewbie12]

ah rm removes each specified file! sneaky question then! thanks Irithori, picking up this a bit better now i hope.

[Irithori]

Yes, the space between / and mytmpdir make that two arguments for rm.
And -R tells it to recurse and -f to force delete.