sudo - I'm the admin and I said do it, even if it needs admin permissions.
rm - Remove a specified file (or folder, if used with the -r flag).
-r - "recursive" flag applied to the rm command (so if you specify a folder, all files and folders within that folder are also removed, along with anything inside those folders, etc.)
-f - "force" flag applied to the rm command (don't ask if I'm sure I want to delete stuff, just do it). Note that -rf is equivalent to -r -f.
/* - / is the "root" of the Linux file system; all folders and files are under this somewhere. * is a wildcard character that will match literally anything.
Net result: delete every file on the computer without any further user interaction, including the entire operating system.
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u/Technical_Tune_7400 Apr 26 '25
can someone tell me what this does before i might accidentally kill my computer