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  3. in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

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  • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

    in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

    the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

    chaoskitsune@woem.menC This user is from outside of this forum
    chaoskitsune@woem.menC This user is from outside of this forum
    chaoskitsune@woem.men
    wrote last edited by
    #2

    @rebane2001@infosec.exchange hmm I suppose thats because its writing nothing into the file but I dont understand the reason for the : (I mean yeah it does make the face but from a commands perspective I mean)

    Id assume it works without?

    Im guessing
    : is ignored or perhaps written into the file?

    lambda@chaosfurs.socialL dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD odd@gts.oddware.netO ralph@hear-me.socialR mo@mastodon.mlM 6 Replies Last reply
    0
    • chaoskitsune@woem.menC chaoskitsune@woem.men

      @rebane2001@infosec.exchange hmm I suppose thats because its writing nothing into the file but I dont understand the reason for the : (I mean yeah it does make the face but from a commands perspective I mean)

      Id assume it works without?

      Im guessing
      : is ignored or perhaps written into the file?

      lambda@chaosfurs.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
      lambda@chaosfurs.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
      lambda@chaosfurs.social
      wrote last edited by
      #3

      @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 : is the no-op built-in in POSIX shells.

      pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • chaoskitsune@woem.menC chaoskitsune@woem.men

        @rebane2001@infosec.exchange hmm I suppose thats because its writing nothing into the file but I dont understand the reason for the : (I mean yeah it does make the face but from a commands perspective I mean)

        Id assume it works without?

        Im guessing
        : is ignored or perhaps written into the file?

        dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD This user is from outside of this forum
        dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD This user is from outside of this forum
        dakkar@s.thenautilus.net
        wrote last edited by
        #4

        @ChaosKitsune@woem.men https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#index-_003a

        the colon is a shell command that does nothing

        it's often used to perform expansions with side-effects, like:

        : ${ARGUMENT:=default value}
        : ${MUST_BE_SET:?error message}


        @rebane2001@infosec.exchange

        jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

          in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

          the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

          pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
          pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
          pinkrhododendron@mastodon.social
          wrote last edited by
          #5

          @rebane2001 It works ๐Ÿคฏ

          kaaswe@swecyb.comK 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

            in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

            the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

            artemis@with.iridium.inkA This user is from outside of this forum
            artemis@with.iridium.inkA This user is from outside of this forum
            artemis@with.iridium.ink
            wrote last edited by
            #6

            @rebane2001 I feed my evil bird junk files twice a day so they don't get hungry and start eating files I need

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • lambda@chaosfurs.socialL lambda@chaosfurs.social

              @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 : is the no-op built-in in POSIX shells.

              pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
              pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP This user is from outside of this forum
              pinkrhododendron@mastodon.social
              wrote last edited by
              #7

              @lambda @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 does that like actually run the no-op in assembly//machine level ?? or actually do nothing and return 0 ??

              lambda@chaosfurs.socialL 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                two@critter.cafeT This user is from outside of this forum
                two@critter.cafeT This user is from outside of this forum
                two@critter.cafe
                wrote last edited by
                #8

                @rebane2001 thanks i was hungry ๐Ÿ˜†

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP pinkrhododendron@mastodon.social

                  @lambda @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 does that like actually run the no-op in assembly//machine level ?? or actually do nothing and return 0 ??

                  lambda@chaosfurs.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
                  lambda@chaosfurs.socialL This user is from outside of this forum
                  lambda@chaosfurs.social
                  wrote last edited by
                  #9

                  @pinkRhododendron @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 the latter, there's no reason the *implementation* of the shell built-in would have to use an extra machine instruction that does nothing (though maybe the compiler sneakily inserts one anyway, e.g. for alignment reasons!)

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                    in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                    the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                    rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR This user is from outside of this forum
                    rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR This user is from outside of this forum
                    rebane2001@infosec.exchange
                    wrote last edited by
                    #10

                    aah i shouldve called it the mischievous bird not evil!!

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • pinkrhododendron@mastodon.socialP pinkrhododendron@mastodon.social

                      @rebane2001 It works ๐Ÿคฏ

                      kaaswe@swecyb.comK This user is from outside of this forum
                      kaaswe@swecyb.comK This user is from outside of this forum
                      kaaswe@swecyb.com
                      wrote last edited by
                      #11

                      @pinkRhododendron @rebane2001
                      I would have also created an alias for the hungry cat to echo out on console
                      Burp, mjao

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                        in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                        the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                        cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.orgC This user is from outside of this forum
                        cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.orgC This user is from outside of this forum
                        cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.org
                        wrote last edited by
                        #12

                        @rebane2001 This is awesome for clearing out files. Some log files when you're trying to isolate. Love learning new commands. Thank you!

                        draeath@infosec.exchangeD 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                          in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                          the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                          benjaoming@social.data.coopB This user is from outside of this forum
                          benjaoming@social.data.coopB This user is from outside of this forum
                          benjaoming@social.data.coop
                          wrote last edited by
                          #13

                          @rebane2001 it doesn't eat worms `~` โ“

                          ```
                          $ ๐Ÿ˜† ~
                          bash: /home/user: Is a directory
                          ```

                          leeloo@c.imL 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                            in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                            the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                            m000gletje@app.wafrn.netM This user is from outside of this forum
                            m000gletje@app.wafrn.netM This user is from outside of this forum
                            m000gletje@app.wafrn.net
                            wrote last edited by
                            #14
                            This post did not contain any content.
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                            • dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD dakkar@s.thenautilus.net

                              @ChaosKitsune@woem.men https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#index-_003a

                              the colon is a shell command that does nothing

                              it's often used to perform expansions with side-effects, like:

                              : ${ARGUMENT:=default value}
                              : ${MUST_BE_SET:?error message}


                              @rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                              jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                              jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                              jcpandrade@mastodon.social
                              wrote last edited by
                              #15

                              @dakkar @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 also infinite cycles:

                              while :
                              do
                              <whatever>
                              Done

                              dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.orgC cenobyte@mastodon.thirring.org

                                @rebane2001 This is awesome for clearing out files. Some log files when you're trying to isolate. Love learning new commands. Thank you!

                                draeath@infosec.exchangeD This user is from outside of this forum
                                draeath@infosec.exchangeD This user is from outside of this forum
                                draeath@infosec.exchange
                                wrote last edited by
                                #16

                                @cenobyte @rebane2001 I usually just use truncate or echo "" > whatever but this is a lot more terse. I like it.

                                project1enigma@chaos.socialP 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ jcpandrade@mastodon.social

                                  @dakkar @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 also infinite cycles:

                                  while :
                                  do
                                  <whatever>
                                  Done

                                  dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  dakkar@s.thenautilus.net
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #17

                                  @jcpandrade@mastodon.social ha! I tend to do while true because it reads better to me
                                  (yes, I know that involves a fork+exec, but if we cared about speed we wouldn't be writing shell)
                                  @ChaosKitsune@woem.men @rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                                  jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • chaoskitsune@woem.menC chaoskitsune@woem.men

                                    @rebane2001@infosec.exchange hmm I suppose thats because its writing nothing into the file but I dont understand the reason for the : (I mean yeah it does make the face but from a commands perspective I mean)

                                    Id assume it works without?

                                    Im guessing
                                    : is ignored or perhaps written into the file?

                                    odd@gts.oddware.netO This user is from outside of this forum
                                    odd@gts.oddware.netO This user is from outside of this forum
                                    odd@gts.oddware.net
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #18

                                    @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001 : is a no-op with no output, which is then redirected to the file.
                                    See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3224878/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-colon-gnu-bash-builtin

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • dakkar@s.thenautilus.netD dakkar@s.thenautilus.net

                                      @jcpandrade@mastodon.social ha! I tend to do while true because it reads better to me
                                      (yes, I know that involves a fork+exec, but if we cared about speed we wouldn't be writing shell)
                                      @ChaosKitsune@woem.men @rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                                      jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                      jcpandrade@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                      jcpandrade@mastodon.social
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #19

                                      @dakkar I used the true but... : is faster and easier to type... Just being lazy, I admit. @ChaosKitsune @rebane2001

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • rebane2001@infosec.exchangeR rebane2001@infosec.exchange

                                        in linux you can use the evil bird emoticon (:>) to destroy files, eg `:> important_document.txt`

                                        the bird will eat the file and leave it completely empty!

                                        bartholin@fops.cloudB This user is from outside of this forum
                                        bartholin@fops.cloudB This user is from outside of this forum
                                        bartholin@fops.cloud
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #20
                                        @rebane2001 The nice bird is named sudo rm -rf /
                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • benjaoming@social.data.coopB benjaoming@social.data.coop

                                          @rebane2001 it doesn't eat worms `~` โ“

                                          ```
                                          $ ๐Ÿ˜† ~
                                          bash: /home/user: Is a directory
                                          ```

                                          leeloo@c.imL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          leeloo@c.imL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          leeloo@c.im
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #21

                                          @benjaoming @rebane2001
                                          ๐Ÿ˜† ./~

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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