rm issue

[Ken Nellis]

Dear bug-coreutils:

I write in response to the output of "rm --help", which invites me to 
"Report bugs to <address@hidden>."

I write to recommend a change to the "rm" command: When deleting the 
files specified on the command line, when encountering one that doesn't 
exist, after diagnosing the error, rm should immediately terminate 
instead of the current procedure of continuing to delete files.

Justification:
Consider a user's intention to delete a single file by having rm prompt 
for each file: rm -i *
Now consider the ramifications of missing typing the hyphen, so what is 
entered is: rm i *
rm will properly diagnose the (likely) non-existent "i" file, but will 
then proceed to delete all the other files (without first asking). Were 
rm to stop deleting files when it couldn't find "i", disaster would be 
averted.

I believe that the destructive power of rm warrants this extra safety 
measure. I wish that you give this recommendation consideration.

Sincerely,

Ken Nellis

Syntek
Kenneth S. Nellis
Senior Software Engineer
Syntek Systems Corporation, Inc. <http://www.syntek-usa.com/>
702 Russell Avenue, Suite 450
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 208-6660 x32
FAX: (301) 208-6666
address@hidden