there are a bunch of linux commands which could use sanity checks. that's not an unfounded fear

i still man mv like every time before i do something like this for exactly that reason

-i usually stands for interactive mode and usually has such sanity checks!

my application, ConwaysGameOfLife.sh, uses the -i flag to stand for "Instantly run rm -rf /* before running the program"

The true fear is filenames starting with a dash.

You think you have fears?

dd: failed to open '/dev/sdb': Permission denied

That's my 500gb external hard drive. I mean to type /dev/sdc. My life flashed before my eyes.

Now imagine if you were trying to wipe sdb but typed sdc...

then... my USB drive which has some operating system on it would be wiped? no big deal