Why does \rm work but rm doesn't?

Posted by cowcow on Super User See other posts from Super User or by cowcow
Published on 2010-02-07T02:02:44Z Indexed on 2010/04/23 11:14 UTC
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unix

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shell

Usually whenever I remove directories, "rm -rf " works. But sometimes I get this response:

"rm: examine files in directory / (yes/no)?"

Then I try "\rm -rf ", and that works. Can anyone explain why?

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