The rm(1) utility attempts to remove the non-directory
type files specified on the command line. If the permissions of the
file do not permit writing, and the standard input device is a
terminal, the user is prompted (on the standard error output) for
confirmation.
The options are as follows:
-d
Attempt to remove directories as well as other types of
files.
-f
Attempt to remove the files without prompting for confirmation,
regardless of the file's permissions. If the file does not exist,
do not display a diagnostic message or modify the exit status to
reflect an error. (Any previous occurences of the -i option
is ignored.)
-i
Request confirmation before attempting to remove each file,
regardless of the file's permissions, or whether or not the
standard input device is a terminal. (Any previous occurences of
the -f option is ignored.)
-P
Overwrite regular files before deleting them. Files are
overwritten three times, first with the byte pattern 0xff, then
0x00, and then 0xff again, before they are deleted.
-R
Attempt to remove the file hierarchy rooted in each file
argument. If the -i option is specified, the user is
prompted for confirmation before each directory's contents are
processed (as well as before the attempt is made to remove the
directory). If the user does not respond affirmatively, the file
hierarchy rooted in that directory is skipped.
-r
Equivalent to -R.
The rm(1) utility removes symbolic links, not the files
referenced by the links.
It is an error to attempt to remove the files . and
...
Specifying more than one -f or -i options is not
considered an error. The option which appears last on the command
line is the one used.
The rm(1) utility exits 0 if all of the named files or
file hierarchies were removed, or if the -f option was
specified and all of the existing files or file hierarchies were
removed. If an error occurs, rm(1) exits with a value
>0.