term% cat index.txt RM(1) General Commands Manual RM(1)
NAME
rm, rmdir - remove (unlink) files
SYNOPSIS
rm [ -f ] [ -r ] [ -i ] file ...
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. If an en‐
try is a directory it is removed only if empty. Removal of a file re‐
quires 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 and no errors are reported when the -f
(force) option is given. Option -r causes rm to recursively delete the
entire contents of a 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.
SEE ALSO
unlink(2), rmdir(8)
DIAGNOSTICS
Generally self-explanatory. It is forbidden to remove the file ‘..'
merely to avoid the antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing
something like ‘rm -r .*'.
RM(1)