I was trying to remove a file within a repository which contained a "$" symbol, so I used:

rm *$*

But this deleted all my files in the directory and attempted to delete all subdirectories as well.

Can someone explain why this command did not just remove files containing a $?

CodePudding user response：

*$* first undergoes parameter expansion, with $* expanding to a string consisting of all the current positional parameters. If there are none, the result is *, which then undergoes pathname expansion.

The correct command would have been something like rm *"$"* or rm *\$*, with the $ escaped to prevent any parameter expansion from taking place before pathname expansion.

CodePudding user response：

here's link for rm this explained everything you need to use rm command in future (https://www.computerhope.com/unix/urm.htm) . it deleted all your files because used * in it. * stands for everything contains in your current folder including sub directories !!!! be careful next time. happy coding :)