On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 08:15:09AM -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Sun, Aug 24, 2025 at 07:05:54 -0400, Zachary Santer wrote: > > I'm curious what all these empty -i files are doing under version > > control on the devel branch: > > CWRU/-i > > CWRU/old-changelogs/-i > > builtins/-i > > doc/-i > > lib/readline/-i > > tests/-i > > > > Commit ab17ddb7af. > > It's a really old hack for "saving users from themselves". The -i file > sorts to the beginning of the list in most locales, so if a user types > "rm *" the command expands to "rm -i ABOUT Changelog ..." and the > user is prompted and has a chance to hit Ctrl-C rather than lose all > the files. > > It's not clear in this case whether it's meant to save the end user > who clones the branch, or the developer who's working on the branch, > from themself.
Just pointing out the obvious: The files that are "protected" in this way are all part of a Git repository. Any file deleted by "rm *" will be gone from the working directory, but will still be in the repository and can be restored with "git checkout <file>" or similar commands, or by restoring from your most recent backup. So the "protection" is superfluous at best. I've seen this "trick" before, but I have never heard of anyone actually being saved by it. It creates clutter in the repository, and I would suggest removing these files. -- Matti Andreas Kähäri Uppsala, Sweden .
