> I suppose I should finally clear this up: The autocorrect functionality I originally described here was a feature of the first Linux systems I ever used, so I assumed it was how every Linux system worked by default. Since then I've come to understand that it's a completely optional extra doodad.
What systems did this? I've never encountered one that I can recall.
Wasn't there an article on here a while ago that this "autocorrect" had a bug and was actually supposed to trigger only after several seconds of no user input, not immediately?
I recall from my early days of reading the jargon file... maybe DWIM? http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/DWIM.html (that said, someone who used that version would have many gray hairs... I was reading about this back in the early 90s).
Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and spelling errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his style, and would often make hash of anyone else's typos if they were stylistically different. Some victims of DWIM thus claimed that the acronym stood for ‘Damn Warren’s Infernal Machine!'.
In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to the command interpreter used at Xerox PARC. One day another hacker there typed delete *$ to free up some disk space. (The editor there named backup files by appending $ to the original file name, so he was trying to delete any backup files left over from old editing sessions.) It happened that there weren't any editor backup files, so DWIM helpfully reported *$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete *'. It then started to delete all the files on the disk! The hacker managed to stop it with a Vulcan nerve pinch after only a half dozen or so files were lost.
The disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted to go to Warren's office, tie Warren down in his chair in front of his workstation, and then type delete *$ twice.
DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex program; it is also occasionally described as the single instruction the ideal computer would have. Back when proofs of program correctness were in vogue, there were also jokes about DWIMC (Do What I Mean, Correctly). A related term, more often seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The Right Thing); see Right Thing.
It's a programming language that helps you write error-free programs, by self-correcting itself. If it finds an error (exception), it simply deletes the offending code until the program runs without an error.
I did something similar while I was still working with Windows a long time ago. I had just switched to PowerShell from the basic command line and kept typing cls, which did not work. I had typed that so often it was completely in my muscle memory, and every time the ugly PowerShell error would appear. So I decided to do the proper thing and NOT alias cls to clear, but instead alias it to immediate shutdown (shutdown -f -t 0 -s iirc) and that did work eventually. Wouldn't change a thing since clear is the universal command almost anywhere so it's a lot better muscle memorizing that!
For those who aren't ready for Suicide Linux yet, there's `sl`, a command that mildly punishes you for not being able to type `ls`, available in most distros.
> As another, slightly more serious suggestion, if Suicide Linux randomly deleted a single file without telling you every time you made a typographical error, it might be an interesting look into the stability of your operating system and an educational tool for diagnosing and repairing corrupted systems.
I seem to recall an experimental indie game that worked this way. If your character died, a random file on your hard disk was deleted. It was a really interesting idea to highlight our implicit assumptions around what games can and can't do, and a way to raise the stakes of the gameplay experience.
Oh, I felt attacked there for a moment. I have a circa 2015ish desktop that's actually got hard drives in it that consist of a Slackware15 install, a partial Kali, and I think an incomplete Linux From Scratch tool chain. I've nuked it so many times. Usually by falling victim to the temptation to fuck with libc after 8 p.m. This generally has to then be resolved by either recovery LiveUSB, or in one daring case, one SSH daemon session holding on for dear life after creatively tweaking the LD path to cannibalize libraries from another partially working/compiled distro to limp the system back to a bootable order. Learned a lot about how linker/loaders worked that weekend. Then there was the war of the bootloaders when it still had windows on it. Finally purged that with prejudice.
Now I just have to figure out how in the hell to setup bootloading with UBoot for an OrangePI 5 so I can actually start using kernels other than theirs, then I'm set for my next experience crashing system boards with no survivors.
When my juniors ask how I know so much about computers, I can honestly say it's because I am the single most poorly behaved user of other people's code on the planet.
A fun way to play this game with less downside is to run `set -euo pipefail` in an interactive session. Then, whenever you execute a command that returns a non-zero exit code, your shell will exit immediately.
Unfortunately certain commands like `rg` will return non-zero by design when there are no matches, which could be an intentional outcome.
38 comments
[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 50.2 ms ] threadWhat systems did this? I've never encountered one that I can recall.
I forgot what it did, but I think it wiped your system out too.
Suicide Linux - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41748336 - Oct 2024 (1 comment)
Suicide Linux (2009) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24652733 - Oct 2020 (170 comments)
Suicide Linux - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15561987 - Oct 2017 (131 comments)
Suicide Linux (2011) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9401065 - April 2015 (55 comments)
Suicide Linux: Where typos do rm -rf / - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4389931 - Aug 2012 (1 comment)
It's a programming language that helps you write error-free programs, by self-correcting itself. If it finds an error (exception), it simply deletes the offending code until the program runs without an error.
https://blog.djmnet.org/2008/08/05/a-pragmatic-decision/
https://feross.org/gcc-ownage/?1?1
https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2002-January/074450.html
https://grapheneos.org/features#duress
I seem to recall an experimental indie game that worked this way. If your character died, a random file on your hard disk was deleted. It was a really interesting idea to highlight our implicit assumptions around what games can and can't do, and a way to raise the stakes of the gameplay experience.
Now I just have to figure out how in the hell to setup bootloading with UBoot for an OrangePI 5 so I can actually start using kernels other than theirs, then I'm set for my next experience crashing system boards with no survivors.
When my juniors ask how I know so much about computers, I can honestly say it's because I am the single most poorly behaved user of other people's code on the planet.
Unfortunately certain commands like `rg` will return non-zero by design when there are no matches, which could be an intentional outcome.