[Gllug] trashman - a trash management utility for Linux filesystem

[Richard Jones]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2006 at 11:06:24AM +0000, Dan Stevens (IAmAI) wrote:
> Unlike Windows, in Linux (or Ubuntu at least) there is no apparent
> trash collection/management, 'recycle bin' type utility and a brief
> search does not reveal much. Perhaps the majority of Linux users feel
> they don't have much need for it and make do happily with using 'rm'
> or 'mv'.
> [proposal for a utility]

You won't be surprised to know that you're not the first person to
come up with the idea of a "safe rm" command.  In fact everyone who
starts out using Unix thinks much the same thing.  Everyone who has
used Unix for a long time knows it's a bad idea.

First of all, Ubuntu does in fact have a wastebasket, which is used by
desktop applications.  The files get moved first into a hidden
directory called '~/.Trash' and you can add a waste bin to your panel
which allows you to monitor and empty this place.

Why is it a bad idea to have a safe version of "rm" (or to alias rm=rm
-i ?)  Because when you come to administer another system you won't be
so careful about using the "rm" command, and then you'll discover that
those files you just carelessly deleted can't be recovered, because
that system didn't have the "safe rm" but the real rm.[1]

A much better idea is to manage files you really care about using a
version control system, and frequently check in changes.  For example,
most documents which Merjis write get filed in our central CVS server
(it would be every single document if the law allowed me to break the
fingers of certain people who work here).  The CVS server is backed
up, and allows you not just to recover accidentally deleted files, but
old and intermediate versions of files -- much more useful than any
"safe rm" scheme.  You can apply CVS (or a similar version control
system) to just about any file which matters to you.

BTW, if you _do_ accidentally delete that vital essay which is going
to take you a week to redo, the best thing is probably to immediately
pull the plug from the wall, remove the hard disk from the computer
case and carefully mount it read-only in another machine, and use a
disk recovery tool to get back your data.

Rich.

[1] Further reading:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-9123.html

-- 
Richard Jones, CTO Merjis Ltd.
Merjis - web marketing and technology - http://merjis.com
Team Notepad - intranets and extranets for business - http://team-notepad.com
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