Removing file named -rf in Unix

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1. Pingback: Sathya
2. Pingback: Mohammed A. Mustafa

3. LOL, that was fun! I created a file with the name ‘-rf’ and tried to delete it in all possible ways, but i couldn’t! I was _this_ close to use python for this, bu instead i read the man page! I thought this was a bug, but turns not!

   To remove a file whose name starts with a `-', for example `-foo', use one of these commands:
rm -- -foo
rm ./-foo


   So … rm -- -rf
   Now it’s gone :)

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   1. Atleast you did not create 2 separate files ( -rf & * )! Imagine combining them!

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4. As if the person who posted the question didn’t know exactly what he was getting up to when he named the file that. ;)

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5. Just in case, if you weren’t aware, — on itself tells that there are no more options to follow and process whatever follows as arguments (startx uses this trick to pass arguments to xserver it calls).

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