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 h

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!