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In-Reply-To: <199705302142.XAA00119@zibbi.mikom.csir.co.za>
Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 16:44:13 -0700 (PDT)
Organization: Atlas Telecom
From: Simon Shapiro <Shimon@i-Connect.Net>
To: Paul Allenby <pallenby@zibbi.mikom.csir.co.za>
Subject: Re: Fdisk Special Feature We CAN do Without
Cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG
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Hi Paul Allenby;  On 30-May-97 you wrote: 
> "Simon Shapiro wrote:"
> [Charset iso-8859-8 unsupported, filtering to ASCII...]
> > I call it ``Teach'em To Be Careful'' (TTTBC):
> > 
> > This feature makes sure you look and look again and your screen before
> you
> > press ENTER.  It also teaches you the value of fast, reliable and up to
> > date backup.
> > 
> > How does it work?  So simple you do not have to learn it at all!  It
> does
> > it all by itself?
> > 
> > How do you evaluate/activate this feature?  Simply type ``fdisk some
> > nonsense''  Fdisk will promptly wipe out your boot disk partitioning
> table.
> >  Just to make sure you stay alert, it will not tell you.  How will you
> find
> > out?  Oh, when you boot your system next.  It wouldn't!
> > 
> > This feature is actually documented!  It says clearly in the man page
> that
> > if you do not specify what drive to partition, it will partition your
> boot
> > drive.
> > 
> > Now, if you want to make SURE you activate this feature, do:
> > 
> >   fdisk -f some_file_that_has_partitioning_data nonsense
> > 
> > This will do it for sure.  Every time.  I know.  I tried.
> > 
> > Happy Re-installing!
> > 
> > Simon
> > 
> 
> What the heck is this? Try "man fdisk".

The heck is that (regardless of what the man says!) this program, silently
and without warning will destroy your system, witha delay in problem
recognition.  If the rm(1) command would default to /*, in absence of
arguments, you would feel it is wrongly engineered.  So is fdisk.  It is
totally within the realm of fdisk to refuse to re-partition a disk that:

a.  Has open partitions,
b.  Has mounted file systems,
c.  does not match ANY parameter, including disk total size
e.  Has a missing device name in argv[] or has in argv[] a filename for
    which stat(2) returns a -2.

This is a simple change to make that will not substantially detract from
performance, nor reliability.  How will it detract from functionality?

Simon

P.S.  Cheer up.  the original message was worded in an attemt to make humor
and get a smile from an otherwise annoying situation.