[zeugma]

The handbook states that such botches are "rites of passage" in the Unix world.

It is. One of the questions I ask in job interviews is for the most spectacular example of when they completely trashed a system. More than anything else, it's a character question. Anyone who's been a unix admin for long enough will have at least one really good one. If they can't come up with anything, I question how hands-on they actually are.

[ShadowAce]

I can honestly say I've never trashed a system. I read enough horror stories about it that whenever I type in a del or rm command I'll sit back at look at it two to three times very carefully before I hit Enter.

I've come close, but thanks to my lack of hurry with these commands, I've caught myself.

[ShadowAce]

Know Your SysAdmin!!