Comment 0 for bug 174283

Binary package hint: coreutils

The rm command includes a "--preserve-root" option to prevent the accidental deletion of the root directory, but that behavior is not the default in Ubuntu 7.04 or 7.10. According to the Ubuntu man pages for rm, "--no-preserve-root" is the default.

Reversing this default would help protect new Ubuntu users, who may or may not understand the effects rm can have on the root directory. This weakness, and the repercussions it has, is best described by forum administrator jdong here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/announcement.php?f=153

Experienced users who need (for some reason) to remove an entire root directory would no doubt find a way to circumvent that particular behavior, most likely with the "--no-preserve-root" flag, or a variation on the command.

To reproduce this bug, install Ubuntu and issue the "sudo rm -rf /" command from a terminal. Of course, this should not be done from a virtual environment, or from a spare installation. :)