Funny file names

[Doug Gwyn <gwyn>]

> What happens if one (by mistake) creates a file called `ctl-foo' and one
> didn't know that this was happening.  The next time they did an `ls'
> of that directory they'd get a `?' and it would be impossible to remove
> because they don't know the name.
> 
> Can someone explain this to me?

If "ls" showed the name as what it was, it could put your terminal into
a funny state.  Funny characters are being replaced by `?' to save some
grief.  To remove these things, either remove by inode number or else
try an interactive "rm".