Join the fight against malicious commands given to new users

[picpak]

Done.

[aidanr]

+1

[daynah]

To all who are trying to "fix" this... you can't. You can, but it would be harming the integrity of linux.

The point is that you can do anything you want to to your computer (or one of the points). So if you want to rm, nothing should stand in you way.

When every I get someone on linux, I give them a general rule: When ubuntu asks you for you "root" or "sudo" password, that's Ubuntu telling you that what you're about to do could break your computer if you aren't sure what you're doing. So pay attention.

I also say things (lies) like "sudo" is Russian for "god mode" where you can fix anything, or break everything. It tends to impress upon the noobs the importance of stuff.

And it's no joke. I've broken my system by installing a backup program from synaptic. It asked me my password. I should have researched the program more.

We can't watch out for every command, but we can know that "sudo" can cause some pain.

[red_Marvin]

As long as they don't assume that 'god mode' means 'invincible'

[sanderella]

When I was new (with Breezy) I used one of those damaging commands that someone wrote here in the cafe, and I had to do a re-install. So embarrassing
I know how those newbies feel! This is a good awareness-raising thread, and I hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.

[InfinityCircuit]

Something to keep in mind is that this also can cause problems when new users think a command is malicious but it really isn't. Last night on IRC someone gave up on Ubuntu because the only way to fix his problem relied on removing the ubuntu-desktop meta package, which he thought was a cruel trick that would gut his system.

[p_quarles]

Something to keep in mind is that this also can cause problems when new users think a command is malicious but it really isn't. Last night on IRC someone gave up on Ubuntu because the only way to fix his problem relied on removing the ubuntu-desktop meta package, which he thought was a cruel trick that would gut his system.

Presumably, "giving up on Ubuntu" also would also gut his system. This person was either playing with you, or wasn't very big on rational decision-making processes.

[angryfirelord]

Done.

[jdong]

Something to keep in mind is that this also can cause problems when new users think a command is malicious but it really isn't. Last night on IRC someone gave up on Ubuntu because the only way to fix his problem relied on removing the ubuntu-desktop meta package, which he thought was a cruel trick that would gut his system.

Agreed, but that shows the user is paying attention to the output of the APT command. If someone explained to him what a metapackage was, and helped him use dpkg -L ubuntu-desktop to prove that there are quite literally just a few readme files in the package itself, he would've found that a plausible explanation for why it is safe to do.

[Flyingjester]

added