Alternative rm

An alternative rm command for Unix/Linux
Current version: v2.0.1

Introduction

• This tool is intended to replace the Unix/Linux (including MacOS) default rm command, which directly deletes files from the drive and may cause unwanted troubles.
• With almost unchanged rm syntax in bash, this tool implements an equivalent function to "Recycle Bin", "deleting" files to a hidden ~/.trash/ folder rather than deleting them immediately. In addition, this tool provides rm-check and rm-purge commands to quickly check and delete all files in ~/.trash/ permanently upon user confirmation.
• It is functionally similar to trash-cli, but there are three key differences: 1) alt_rm directly replaces rm command using alias rather than introducing a new command, 2) alt_rm moves files to ~/.trash/ instead of ~/.local/share/Trash folder, 3) alt_rm does not require sudo privileges for installing.
• It is highly recommended to deploy this tool for safer manipulations of files in interactive shells, especially on institutional servers. For non-interactive shells (i.e., scripts) and for any other users without alt_rm deployed (including the root user), the original rm command will not be affected by the alias.

How to setup

• Install: connect to internet and execute the below command in terminal

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chenh19/alt_rm/main/install.sh)"

• Uninstall: connect to internet and execute the below command in terminal

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chenh19/alt_rm/main/uninstall.sh)"

How to use

• Delete files (move files to the hidden ~/.trash/ folder):

rm file_name "file name" folder_path/ folder_path "folder path"/ "folder path" etc

Note: original rm arguments like -rf are allowed but not required. They will just be silently ommitted.

• Check all the trashed files (list files in the ~/.trash/ folder):

rm-check

• Delete all the trashed files permanently (empty the ~/.trash/ folder):

rm-purge

Note: no argument is needed for this command. It's just like "Empty Recycle Bin".