unix undelete ?????

[John 'tms' Navarra]

In article <1991Apr29.015855.26661 at athena.mit.edu> jik at athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) writes:
>In article <26671 at adm.brl.mil>, X903%DMAFHT1.BITNET at cunyvm.cuny.edu ( Marc Wachowitz) writes:
>|> On Wed, 24 Apr 91 11:59:22 EDT GC-ACCURATE Arthur W. Protin Jr. said:
>|> ...
>|> >NEVER EVER make "rm" an alias for something less dangerous than "/bin/rm"
>|> >People get used to using the command in a friendlier form and wreck havoc
>|> >when they get into a normal environment.
>|> >When you want a "delete" that protects you, use "delete" or "del" or
>|> >"RM" or ........
>|> Well, perhaps you misunderstood what I proposed. I didn't think of
>|> replacing "/bin/rm", I meant you should replace it in your usage,
>|> just like Mr. Protin said :-)
>
>Mr. Protin understood just fine what you proposed.  You have not understood
>his objection to your suggestion.
>
>
>However, doing something like putting a system-wide alias for "rm" in
>/etc/profile (or whereever) would be a REALLY bad idea.  The reason for this
>is that many users will never realize that the "rm" they're using that allows
>for recovery is not standard.  They'll graduate and go to work somewhere, and
>the first time they accidentally delete something, presto, there's no way to
>get it back, and they've got a rude awakening to face.
>
>That's why I'm a bit uncomfortable with what Purdue does.  They've got this
>"entomb" thing which replaces file-destructive system calls with functions
>that first move the old file out of the way before creating the new one.  What
>happens when Purdue students go out into the real world and discover that "mv"
>and "rm" are permanent operation in most of it?
>
>Perhaps the benefit from the recoverability outweighs this danger; that's a
>judgment I'm not prepared to make here, but as I said, I'm uncomfortable with
>that system.
>

         I disagree. I like what Purdue does. I am WELL aware that if I 
 type rm that I will lose a file that I have been currently working on.
 And I don't always count on systems backups that are done once a week. 
 If you have an alias or a program like entomb running chances are the ones 
 who understand what is going on understand that on another system if they
 type rm then the file might be gone forever, and the ones that don't 
 are also helped since they are probably surprised that they can retrieve
 thier files.   
	Either way, I don't think anyone will get in the habit of typing
 rm and then going to the sysadmin to get their files back. Also, if you
 are using this machine MOST of the time, then there is little chance of
 you making the same mistake on another computer.    
	What needs to be done is to make sure the sysadmin informs the users
 that the alias, program etc is NOT standard and whether you know alot about
 Unix or not, don't get in the habit of typing rm and expecting to regain
 your files.
	I have written a number of programs (including an rm function) to 
 enhance my envirionment -- that is the fun of Unix. Why take away something
 that does more good than harm? I guarentee there is more instances where
 people accidently delete unwanted files straight out than people who 
 remove files because they forgot there is an undelete function somewhere.
 
>-- 
>Jonathan Kamens			              USnail:
>MIT Project Athena				11 Ashford Terrace
>jik at Athena.MIT.EDU				Allston, MA  02134
>Office: 617-253-8085			      Home: 617-782-0710


-- 
>From the Lab of the MaD ScIenTiST:
      
navarra at casbah.acns.nwu.edu