Re: shred -f -u should ignore nonexistent files (like rm -f does)

[Bauke Jan Douma]

Markus Kuhn wrote on 11-02-08 19:58:
> Feature suggestion:
>
> Given that "shred -u" and "rm" fulfill very similar functions (make a
> file "go away"), it would make sense if their user interface were very
> similar.
>
> In particular, it would be nice if
>
>   $ shred -u -f abc
>   shred: abc: failed to open for writing: No such file or directory
>
> would not output an error message if no file "abc" exists, just
> like "rm -f abc" does not complain about nonexistent files.
>
> Then one could use "shred -u -f" simply as a drop-in replacement for
> "rm -f", e.g. change in a Makefile
>
>   clean:
>         rm -f *~
>
> to
>
>   clean:
>         shred -u -f *~
>
> Alternatively, it would be nice if the "rm" command had a shred-like
> option to overwrite a file before unlinking it.

I disagree -- that would not be nice.

Some people what rm to just mv a file, others want it to
shred a file as well.  Personally, I would have liked rm
to run md5sum on the file before deciding whether or not
to delete it -- just for the fun of it.
But guess what.......... you guessed it.

bjd