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> From: Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benja...@gmail.com> > To: Steven D'Aprano <st...@pearwood.info> > Cc: "Tutor@python.org" <tutor@python.org> > Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 11:58 AM > Subject: Re: [Tutor] ImportError: No module named '_sysconfigdata_m' > > On 25 September 2013 00:25, Steven D'Aprano <st...@pearwood.info> > wrote: >> On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 01:33:23PM +0100, Oscar Benjamin wrote: >> >>> If you want to mess with your system 'sudo rm -rf' is > definitely the >>> way to go. Don't bother reporting this as a bug since you've >>> *definitely* voided the warranty (that your free software didn't > come >>> with). >> >> I first read that as "sudo rm -rf ." and thought "That's > a bit harsh, >> isn't it?" > > I guess it does seem harsh but it's definitely true. Albert-Jan still > hasn't explained what he was trying to achieve with that command but I > stand by my claim that whatever it was can be achieved in a better and > safer way. I just wanted to get rid of Python 3.2 as I thought it had no purpose. Maybe I also could have done apt-get install --only-upgrade python3. apt-get update does not update python 3.2 to 3.3. > If you try 'sudo apt-get remove python3' then apt will check the > database of installed packages to see if anything depends on the > python3 package. Thanks. I will use that from now on. Much better indeed. But isn't it safer to also specify the minor python version? If nothing depends on it then it will be safely > removed and the apt database will be updated to reflect the fact that > it is no longer installed. Otherwise it will report the full list of > packages that would also need to be removed because they depend on > python3 and ask if you want to remove all of them. At this point > you'll probably think "What on earth are all those packages? Maybe I > need them." and then answer no. > > On the other hand 'sudo rm -rf /some/system/dir' will check nothing > and will simply remove the files. The combination of sudo and the -f > flag means "I know what I'm doing so shut up and do what I say". I > rarely feel confident enough to do that and I can't think of the last > time I had a reason to do it. > > I regularly use 'rm -rf' because that's needed to delete e.g. a git > repository which contains a whole load of files marked as read-only. > Without the -f you'll have to answer 'y' thousands of times. But I > don't usually have git repositories that are owned by root so I don't > need the sudo part (I have sometimes used git to manage system files > like fstab, grub etc.). > > > Oscar > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor