performance
medium
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rm-recursive
2 points
Question 26. CSCD240-E1-A
Using absolute path, remove subdirectory scratch under /home/ssteiner. Not in home dir.
Work the drill
Answer on paper or in a terminal before revealing the ideal answer.
Ideal answer
rm -r /home/ssteiner/scratch
Acceptable alternatives: ["rm -rf /home/ssteiner/scratch"]
Misconception bank
Each row below is a plausible wrong answer, the thinking that produces it, and the remedy that corrects the misconception. These are the foundation of the multiple-choice framing and the targeted feedback a student receives after answering.
rm /home/ssteiner/scratch
Misconception. Missing -r; fails on non-empty directory.
Remedy. Demo rm refusing on dir; teach -r for recursive.
rmdir /home/ssteiner/scratch
Misconception. rmdir only removes empty dirs; fails on non-empty.
Remedy. Compare rmdir vs rm -r scenarios.
rm -r ~/scratch
Misconception. Tilde is shell expansion — relative to HOME, not literal absolute path.
Remedy. Question asked for absolute. ~ expands to absolute but is shorthand, not strict absolute syntax.
Authority mappings
Hover any chip for the mapping justification; click to open the authority record.
DCWF roles:
IT-451 System Administrator
DCWF tasks:
T0136
Course-artifact links
Lectures
- CSCD240-S26-L02. Shell basics, navigation, file type identification, which
Lab questions
- CSCD240-S26-LAB1: Copy a file with cp, rename it with mv, delete it with rm.
CTF challenges
- 00 Navigation & Files: The Nuclear Option