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Accepted
bebojoor
Asked: 2012-04-26 00:00:26 +0800 CST

How to undo an operation done in terminal?

  • 772

I had deleted an important file once and later i had changed the permissions of a file which i am not able to revert now. Is there any way through which i can undo delete or revert permissions on files while working with terminal?

And one more question about Ubuntu ... Why do we never get a dialog box asking 'are you sure you want to delete' as compared to windows.I see it as a flaw in Ubuntu GUI. Once you press delete,there it is in the trash but never prompts to ask if we really want it to be deleted and ofcourse, I know ppl would be like -- why you want reassurance before deleting...it is a part of HCI and should be implemented(I am sorry,just a beginner).

gnome-terminal permissions files delete

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    If deleted the file in a terminal with rm then it will not go to the trash, do it in filemanager and it will.

    You 'might' be able to restore the file, but all the time you're using the system the area the file was in could be overwritten.

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DataRecovery

    You should be able to revert permissions on files.

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FilePermissions

    • 4

  2. There's an rm wrapper script that makes rm a bit more fool-proof.

    Suppose you did...

    rm very_important_file

    Getting that file back using the terminal is tedious and not always possible.

    If you used the script mentioned above, you don't have to worry about this because

    rm very_important_file

    Is actually doing

    mv very_important_file ~/.Trash/

    behind the scenes in that rm wrapper script mentioned above.

    The script handles more cases and doesn't alter your system rm application, just shadows it if you put the wrapper somewhere before the official rm in your $PATH.

    This is a bit better than just aliasing, because it can do more (like maintaining that ~/.Trash/ directory).

    • 3

  3. I think it may be in the trash.You may get to recover the important file from the trash. otherwise I think you should download or make the file again.

    • -2