rm returns 0 although directory didn't exist and wasn't deleted ?

[Fred Morcos]

The man page [1] explicitly states that if the file doesn't exist, -f
will not show an error message nor alter the exit code.

-f   Attempt to remove the files without prompting for confirmation,
regardless of the file's permissions.  If the file does not exist, do
not display a diagnostic message or modify the exit status to reflect
an error.  The -f option overrides any previous -i options.

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=rm&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+9.0-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html

On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 4:16 PM, Damien Fleuriot <ml at my.gd> wrote:
> I always assumed -f would only force removal, not modify the exit code.
>
> No bug then, working as intended, all good.
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> On 6/19/12 3:43 PM, Fred Morcos wrote:
>> You used -f which means rm will not complain if a file or directory
>> cannot be deleted (or does not exist in the first place).
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 3:37 PM, Damien Fleuriot <ml at my.gd> wrote:
>>> I've stumbled upon this *so weird* behaviour.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> # ls -la /var/tmp/stunnel/
>>> ls: /var/tmp/stunnel/: No such file or directory
>>>
>>>                                                               # rm -Rf
>>> /var/tmp/stunnel/
>>>
>>>                                                               # echo $?
>>> 0
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyone knows if that's intended ?
>>>
>>> FreeBSD pf2.[snip].com 8.3-STABLE FreeBSD 8.3-STABLE #0: Tue Jun 19
>>> 10:45:31 CEST 2012
>>>
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