Hopeful, but skeptical. I guess we'll never know.

#chatgpt #ai

@atoponce Why /*? You'll be leaving hidden files in /. Going to such lengths as to pull out --no-preserve-root and leaving hidden files in / intact is beyond my understanding. 

#shell #Unix #globbing

@blobster @atoponce On the one hand, I don't think `--no-preserve-root` is even necessary with the glob? and on the other hand... it gets the job done either way, doesn't it? If they leave hidden files behind (assuming there even are any) it's not like the system will be remotely useful any more.

@benjamineskola @atoponce Technically, you're correct. My message is about “principles”: when doing something, do it right.

Another point this screenshot raises: leaving important files in hidden subdirs of /  (of course, you can encrypt them) becomes slightly attractive because script kiddies are likely to miss them. 

@blobster I suppose it's a matter of what you consider 'important'.

If the purpose is to render the system unbootable/unusable, this will do a good enough job.

If the purpose is to delete some irreplaceable data, then yes, it will miss any in hidden directories — but there shouldn't *be* any irreplaceable data, because it should all be backed up.

Agree with you about doing things right for the sake of correctness: a good principle! But this will still do enough damage to be meaningful.