that would break billions of scripts and confuse the hell out of hundreds of thousands or millions of users. Especially seems unnecessary since most distros ship an alias that makes the default `rm` command run with the `-I` or `-i` command.

> Especially seems unnecessary since most distros ship an alias that makes the default `rm` command run with the `-I` or `-i` command.

I would say that makes things even worse. Because it's just training you to rely on -i/I as a sensible default. One day, you'll encounter that one distro that doesn't have that, and it'll be the time where you really wish it were.

Hmm, interesting point. I removed that alias early personally in favor of giving due respect to rm (especially with a `-r`!), which is probably an indicator in your favor.

I alias rm to `echo ‘use trash’`, and then use /bin/rm when it’s what I really want.

Of course it is here with us to stay. The point is that if the initial design was different, there would be fewer headaches. We certainly have the power moving forward. And as discussed in the article, a prompt is not enough to deter a user doing something other than what they think they are doing.

>Especially seems unnecessary

An option that shows a y/n action. That's what GitHub does when you're about to make private/delete a repo (even more asking you to type out its entire name) and yet here we're.