That's a good point, but luckily I've never expected my .bashrc or 
.bash_profile files to be very portable. :P

Quoting Stuart Yeates <[log in to unmask]>:

> 'alias' is a non-portable bash-ism.
>
> Of course, this matters less now Oracle as declared Solaris dead.
>
> cheers
> stuart
>
> --
> I have a new phone number: 04 463 5692
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Alex
> Berry <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, 29 October 2014 1:11 p.m.
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Subject: Re: Why learn Unix?
>
> And that is why alias rm='rm -I' was invented.
>
> Quoting Roy Tennant <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> I agree. I've done serious damage to my own server this way. Anyone
>> who knows me knows that I'm completely capable of this. Unlike
>> others, who are both more intelligent and more cautious. Down the
>> path of the wild carded, recursive delete command lies DANGER. Having
>> a little bit of knowledge is more dangerous, in most cases, than none
>> at all. In Unix and in whitewater rafting.
>> Roy
>>
>>
>>> On Oct 28, 2014, at 6:46 PM, Cary Gordon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Well you can do a lot of damage quickly using very short commands. Deleting
>>> the master boot record can be quite effective, but I will demure from
>>> giving specific examples.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 3:22 PM, Stuart Yeates <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> -- Because you can delete everything on the system with a very short
>>>>> command.
>>>>
>>>> This is actually a misconception.
>>>>
>>>> The very short command doesn't delete everything on the system. The
>>>> integrity of files which are currently open (including things like the
>>>> kernel image, executable files for currently-running programs, etc) is
>>>> protected until they are closed (or the next reboot, whichever is first).
>>>> These files vanish from the directory structure on the filesystem but can
>>>> still be accessed by interacting with the running processes which
>>>> have them
>>>> open (or /proc/ for the very desperate).
>>>>
>>>> This is the POSIX alternative to the windows "That file is currently in
>>>> use" scenario and explains why, when a runaway log file fills up a disk,
>>>> you have to both delete the log file and restart the service to get the
>>>> disk back.
>>>>
>>>> cheers
>>>> stuart
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Cary Gordon
>>> The Cherry Hill Company
>>> http://chillco.com
>>
>