HN Hall of Fame Weekly email

Suicide Linux

Screenshot of qntm.org captured 2026-07-20
Page preview · captured 2026-07-20

Resurfaced independently across 10 calendar years, with breakout response in 4 of them.

submissions
10
submitters
10
observed span
2010–2026
peak thread · 170 comments
272 pts
latest 20+ return · 2026-02-16
116 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

I've added a counter (of successful commands in a row) to my bashrc. I've seen it as high as 120. function promptCommand() { LAST_STATUS=$? # Set title of window to dir, then add new line to prompt. PS1='\[\e]0;\w\a\]\n' if [ $LAST_STATUS -eq 0 ]; then ((successes++)) PS1+='\[\033[1;32m\][$successes]' else successes=0 PS1+='\[\033[1;31m\][0 $LAST_STATUS]' fi PS1+='\[\033[0;32m\] ' PS1+='\w $(date +%H:%M) \$ \[\033[0m\]' } lastStatus=0 successes=-1 PROMPT_COMMAND="promptCommand" My prompt: [0] /home/bar/g3 14:19 $…

> Perhaps rm -rf / should be replaced with something with more verbose flags set. That way, when you run a bad command, you are told immediately that things are being deleted This gives me an idea: Hell Linux. In Hell Linux, the operating system does its best to pretend that nothing is wrong, so it takes you as long as possible to realize that you've made a mistake. Commands ignore all unrecognized flags. In shell scripts, if one branch…

dkarl·147-point thread·

Somewhat reminds me of the vigil eso-language (https://github.com/munificent/vigil) 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.

"When there is error, we blame humans. But it is not humans who are stupid, it's the machines. We should design machines to minimize error. Humans are bad at precision so why demand it?" -- Don Norman, Design of Everyday Things

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
4

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
636

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
426

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2010-02-18Suicide Linux, a virtual tightropeak8630
2012-08-16Suicide Linux: Where typos do rm -rf /makmanalp51
2013-01-22Suicide Linuxtnorthcutt110
2015-04-18Suicide Linux (2011)First breakoutjosephmx7155
2016-10-19Suicide Linuxbemmu30
2017-10-26Suicide LinuxHall induction · Best threadcgtyoder272131
2020-10-01Suicide Linux (2009)ciarannolan147170
2024-10-05Suicide LinuxOuterVale31
2025-01-14Suicide Linux: Package that wipes your drive if you commit a syntax errorgaws50
2026-02-16Suicide Linux (2009)Latest 20+ point returnicwtyjj11668