4 ms·

Looks cool; what kinds of automation-via-email hacks have been done with this?

by mikece 4y ago

berbec 4y ago
- kuwoze 4y ago
  hey, that's a very useful trick indeed! i suggest all try it
  - nicce 4y ago
    He was polite and did not spoil the ultimate trick without tilde character.
    - nneonneo 4y ago
      The version with the tilde character is worse! At least with the bare slash, some versions of rm will simply refuse to run (they require --no-preserve-root). Plus, even if it works, “rm -rf /“ is likely to start at something like /bin and spew a ton of errors unless you use sudo, giving you ample time to abort before it starts wiping the stuff you care about in /home, /usr, etc. On the other hand, with the tilde, it will just start wiping your personal files right away and will probably not run into any permission errors.
      - computomatic 4y ago
        $ git clone git@github.com:dotfiles '$HOME' Cloning into '$HOME'... *ugh...* $ rm -rf $HOME *wait...* $ cd $HOME cd: no such file or directory: /Users/admin *fuuuuuuuu*
- bobuk 4y ago
  - quickco 4y ago
    that’s not cool. Tricking computer users who may not be familiar with this command and which could cause data loss with real world repercussions (lost company data, lost treasured family photos etc) is not cool or funny. For those unfamiliar with this command, it may completely remove all files from your system, resulting in a broken and unrecoverable system.
    - nneonneo 4y ago
      With the tilde, it’ll actually “just” remove all your files, which will probably leave your system perfectly usable without any of your stuff.
      - melony 4y ago
        Sigh. The correct way is to 1) Disable System Integrity Protection 2) Delete Time Machine and associated files 3) Run sudo rm -rf / Now your Apple mail will be optimized and it will run faster.
    - rockemsockem 4y ago
      It's definitely funny. Save the paternalism for your kids Don't run random shell commands you find in the comment section folks.
      - mmastrac 4y ago
        I know a handful of non-tech users that have been fooled by this over the years. Destructive pranks are not funny, and you don't know what valuable data you're putting at risk. There are plenty of amusing pranks that don't result in random data loss.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Wowfunhappy 4y ago
  First, to anyone reading, please don't run that command! --- I realize that: • We're on Hacker News, and most Hacker News users will know what that command does. • Nobody should be running random Terminal commands found on the internet without understanding what they do. The fact remains that some child might be browsing HN, see this "automation hack", and try running it to find out what happens. There's fundamentally no good reason to post destructive commands without a warning. It isn't funny.
CodeWriter23 4y ago
Purge browser history.
Bondi_Blue 4y ago
Since you can run shell scripts inside AppleScript, the scope is pretty wide.

Looks cool; what kinds of automation-via-email hacks have been done with this?

by mikece 4y ago

Looks cool; what kinds of automation-via-email hacks have been done with this?

berbec 4y ago

kuwoze 4y ago
hey, that's a very useful trick indeed! i suggest all try it
- nicce 4y ago
  He was polite and did not spoil the ultimate trick without tilde character.
  - nneonneo 4y ago
    The version with the tilde character is worse! At least with the bare slash, some versions of rm will simply refuse to run (they require --no-preserve-root). Plus, even if it works, “rm -rf /“ is likely to start at something like /bin and spew a ton of errors unless you use sudo, giving you ample time to abort before it starts wiping the stuff you care about in /home, /usr, etc. On the other hand, with the tilde, it will just start wiping your personal files right away and will probably not run into any permission errors.
    - computomatic 4y ago
      $ git clone git@github.com:dotfiles '$HOME' Cloning into '$HOME'... *ugh...* $ rm -rf $HOME *wait...* $ cd $HOME cd: no such file or directory: /Users/admin *fuuuuuuuu*
bobuk 4y ago
- quickco 4y ago
  that’s not cool. Tricking computer users who may not be familiar with this command and which could cause data loss with real world repercussions (lost company data, lost treasured family photos etc) is not cool or funny. For those unfamiliar with this command, it may completely remove all files from your system, resulting in a broken and unrecoverable system.
  - nneonneo 4y ago
    With the tilde, it’ll actually “just” remove all your files, which will probably leave your system perfectly usable without any of your stuff.
    - melony 4y ago
      Sigh. The correct way is to 1) Disable System Integrity Protection 2) Delete Time Machine and associated files 3) Run sudo rm -rf / Now your Apple mail will be optimized and it will run faster.
  - rockemsockem 4y ago
    It's definitely funny. Save the paternalism for your kids Don't run random shell commands you find in the comment section folks.
    - mmastrac 4y ago
      I know a handful of non-tech users that have been fooled by this over the years. Destructive pranks are not funny, and you don't know what valuable data you're putting at risk. There are plenty of amusing pranks that don't result in random data loss.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Wowfunhappy 4y ago
First, to anyone reading, please don't run that command! --- I realize that: • We're on Hacker News, and most Hacker News users will know what that command does. • Nobody should be running random Terminal commands found on the internet without understanding what they do. The fact remains that some child might be browsing HN, see this "automation hack", and try running it to find out what happens. There's fundamentally no good reason to post destructive commands without a warning. It isn't funny.

CodeWriter23 4y ago

Purge browser history.

Bondi_Blue 4y ago

Since you can run shell scripts inside AppleScript, the scope is pretty wide.