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NAME

       rm - remove files or directories

SYNOPSIS

       rm [OPTION]... FILE...

DESCRIPTION

       This  manual  page  documents  the  GNU version of rm.  rm removes each
       specified file.  By default, it does not remove directories.

       If the -I or --interactive=once option is given,  and  there  are  more
       than  three  files  or  the  -r,  -R, or --recursive are given, then rm
       prompts the user for whether to proceed with the entire operation.   If
       the response is not affirmative, the entire command is aborted.

       Otherwise,  if  a file is unwritable, standard input is a terminal, and
       the  -f  or   --force   option   is   not   given,   or   the   -i   or
       --interactive=always  option  is given, rm prompts the user for whether
       to remove the file.  If the response is not affirmative,  the  file  is
       skipped.

OPTIONS

       Remove (unlink) the FILE(s).

       -f, --force
              ignore nonexistent files, never prompt

       -i     prompt before every removal

       -I     prompt  once  before  removing  more  than  three files, or when
              removing recursively.   Less  intrusive  than  -i,  while  still
              giving protection against most mistakes

       --interactive[=WHEN]
              prompt  according  to  WHEN:  never,  once (-I), or always (-i).
              Without WHEN, prompt always

       --one-file-system
              when removing a hierarchy recursively, skip any  directory  that
              is  on  a  file  system different from that of the corresponding
              command line argument

       --no-preserve-root
              do not treat ‘/’ specially

       --preserve-root
              do not remove ‘/’ (default)

       -r, -R, --recursive
              remove directories and their contents recursively

       -v, --verbose
              explain what is being done

       --help display this help and exit

       --version
              output version information and exit

       By default, rm does not remove directories.  Use the --recursive (-r or
       -R)  option to remove each listed directory, too, along with all of its
       contents.

       To remove a file whose name starts with a ‘-’, for example ‘-foo’,  use
       one of these commands:

              rm -- -foo

              rm ./-foo

       Note  that  if  you  use  rm  to remove a file, it might be possible to
       recover some of its contents, given sufficient expertise  and/or  time.
       For  greater  assurance  that  the  contents  are  truly unrecoverable,
       consider using shred.

AUTHOR

       Written by Paul Rubin, David MacKenzie, Richard M.  Stallman,  and  Jim
       Meyering.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report rm bugs to bug-coreutils@gnu.org
       GNU coreutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
       Report rm translation bugs to <http://translationproject.org/team/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright  ©  2010  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

       unlink(1), unlink(2), chattr(1), shred(1)

       The  full  documentation  for rm is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
       the info and rm programs are  properly  installed  at  your  site,  the
       command

              info coreutils 'rm invocation'

       should give you access to the complete manual.