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)