Some answers on superuser, such as this one - https://superuser.com/a/1136881/7561 - include using the unix command of sudo rm /something - which could be extremely dangerous - as if a user didn't finish copying the command and just wrote sudo rm / and then clicked "enter" they will lose all of the data on their computer.
What is the best, safest way, to instruct people on how to use rm in a stack exchange answer?
That answer is a great example of how to do it - you're explaining what you're doing and what you're deleting step by step. We can't really completely stop people from accidentally their own system.
rm isn't inherently dangerous - many modern rm implementations are designed to stop you from hoisting yourself on your own petard. I mean you could use rm -i in your answers or reference one of the suggestions here.
That said, if someone wants to break open the gun locker, grab a bullet from a locked drawer, load and fire a shot right into his own foot, there's precious little we can do.
--no-preserve-root accidentally?
sudo rm /in any modern Linux distro, it will not be as disastrous as you imagine.sudo rm -rf ./*(becausesudois so cool, y’know, that you use it whenever you’re not sure you don’t need it, and likewise for./) and you accidentally typesudo rm -rf . /*, that’s gonna leave a mark.