Delete anything without permissions issues

May 31, '02 08:37:04AM

Contributed by: goad

Have you ever been annoyed when the system doesn't let you delete things? You have to go around logging in as root, changing permissions, blah blah blah. But, it takes too much time!

I have found the ultimate evil solution! When they do not allow you to delete it, then just create a folder/document of the same name, and move it to the directory where the offending folder/document is located. The unwanted item will be deleted when it is "replaced" and then you are free to delete the file you have created.

This works extremely well, I actually deleted my system folder doing this and it didn't even complain!

[Editor's note: I haven't verified this myself against a non-deletable object, but clearly, in general replacing one file with another when copying works. If you attempt to use this to delete a stubborn item, be very careful that you're removing only the one object you wish to get rid of! I personally prefer the other methods for deleting stuck files which have been discussed here previously, but offer this up as yet another potential solution.]

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