4 ms·

I like `rmdir` because I don't have to check if a directory that I think is empty is actually empty with `ls -la` before removing it. This happens a lot with mo

• eesmith 3y ago
  Even in that case, you can use "rm -d" instead of "rmdir". % mkdir herewulf % rm herewulf rm: herewulf: is a directory % rm -d herewulf % % mkdir herewulf % touch herewulf/nonempty.txt % % rm herewulf/ rm: herewulf/: is a directory % rm -d herewulf/ rm: herewulf/: Directory not empty % rm herewulf/nonempty.txt % rm -d herewulf/ The only distinct feature of rmdir is that it won't remove things that aren't files: % touch herewulf % rm -d herewulf % touch herewulf % rmdir herewulf rmdir: herewulf: Not a directory Is that "one thing well" really enough to justify its own tool? Unix has always had a tension between "one thing well" and "one powerful tool". Is 'cc' a preprocessor? A compiler? A linker? Yes! Does 'date' show the current date (and time), set the system date, or convert between dates? Yes!
  • cesarb 3y ago
    > Is 'cc' a preprocessor? A compiler? A linker? Yes! It's none of them; it's a driver which calls the preprocessor (cpp), the real compiler, and the linker (ld).
    • eesmith 3y ago
      The man pages call it a compiler: % man cc ... DESCRIPTION clang is a C, C++, and Objective-C compiler which encompasses preprocessing, parsing, optimization, code generation, assembly, and linking. % man gcc ... NAME gcc - GNU project C and C++ compiler ...