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What will this command do on unix:

rm somefile ~/data

I was trying to move somefile to the folder at home/data

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Jul 28 '09 at 0:06

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You deleted the file. –  Chuck Jul 28 '09 at 0:03
I don't think it will appear any useful answers out of this awful question. –  setatakahashi Jul 28 '09 at 0:18

6 Answers 6

It will delete ./somefile and, if it's a file, ~/data (assuming you have permission to do so on both of them, of course).

The command you wanted was:

mv somefile ~/data

If you don't do regular backups, you're probably hosed.

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rm means remove...

You wanted mv, which means move

rm somefile ~/data

That command deletes somefile, and also deletes ~/data (data file located in the home directory).

If you wanted to rename/move (the two are the same) somefile to ~/data, the proper command would of been:

mv somefile ~/data
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Yes, when I do cd ~ I don't see the /data folder anymore! But I do see if it I go to /home/xxxx/users folder. Was it just mirrored or aliased then? How can I get it back? –  user3183 Jul 28 '09 at 0:17

I think you meant to use mv:

mv somefile ~/data

rm means remove.

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You removed somefile completely.

rm means 'remove'.

You need 'mv'

Use 'man rm' and 'man mv' for more information.

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rm is the remove command. see man rm

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meder@meder-desktop:~$ rm lol ~/lmfao
rm: cannot remove `/home/meder/lmfao': Is a directory

As previously stated you want 'mv'

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