自杀Linux (2009)

自杀Linux (2009)
Suicide Linux (2009)

## 自杀 Linux：一场危险的游戏 “自杀 Linux”是一个故意破坏性的概念——一个操作系统，设计在你输入错误命令时擦除你的硬盘。它灵感来自早期 Linux 系统的自动更正功能，目的是通过测试你使用该操作系统的时间，直到一个打字错误触发 `rm -rf /` 命令，来考验你的技能和运气。最初只是一个思想实验，但“自杀 Linux”却意外地被他人实现为 Debian 包和 Docker 镜像。创建者注意到操作系统在自我销毁时的出奇安静，并建议改进，例如详细的删除警告或随机的单个文件删除，以进行系统稳定性测试。作者澄清他们并没有创建这些软件包，但最初认为自动更正行为是 Linux 的标准功能。尽管承认它缺乏实际价值，“自杀 Linux”仍然存在，作为一个病态而迷人的挑战。

You know how sometimes if you mistype a filename in Bash, it corrects your spelling and runs the command anyway?* Such as when changing directory, or opening a file.

I have an idea: Suicide Linux. Any time - any time - you type any remotely incorrect command, the interpreter creatively resolves it into rm -rf / and wipes your hard drive.

It's a game. Like walking a tightrope. You have to see how long you can continue to use the operating system before losing all your data.

Update 2011-12-26

Someone has turned Suicide Linux into a genuine Debian package. Good show!

A video demonstration is available. The reaction from the OS is actually rather underwhelming. You'd think the OS would raise some fairly urgent errors if you went around deleting parts of it?

Perhaps rm -rf / should be replaced with something with more verbose flags set. That way, when you run a bad command, you are told immediately that things are being deleted and you have a fighting chance to cancel the operation before your system becomes inoperable. This allows you to see how long you can work and how many files you can lose before the system fails entirely.

As another, slightly more serious suggestion, if Suicide Linux randomly deleted a single file without telling you every time you made a typographical error, it might be an interesting look into the stability of your operating system and an educational tool for diagnosing and repairing corrupted systems. I'm not pretending Suicide Linux has any genuine merit, of course.

* Update 2015-04-18

I suppose I should finally clear this up: The autocorrect functionality I originally described here was a feature of the first Linux systems I ever used, so I assumed it was how every Linux system worked by default. Since then I've come to understand that it's a completely optional extra doodad.

Update 2017-07-04

Someone (else?) has turned Suicide Linux into a Docker image. Here's the source.


docker run --rm -it -t tiagoad/suicide-linux

Update 2020-11-10

Clarified wording which previously falsely implied that I created the Suicide Linux Debian package or Docker image, which I did not.