Classic BASH fork bomb. DO NOT USE!

:(){ :|:& };:
Classic BASH fork bomb. DO NOT USE!
Sample Output 
DEATH

-21
By: dhbarr
2009-02-25 18:45:17
5

1 Alternatives + Submit Alt

What Others Think

Wow, that works great. My machine was dead in less than 30 seconds.
cetilim1 · 790 weeks and 2 days ago
Very nice. Could anyone describe this command to me? I'm not so enlightened in bash
gromina · 790 weeks and 2 days ago
the ':()' shows that we're making a new function named ':'. Everything inside the '{}' is the function body, it makes two recursive calls to the ':' function and puts them into the background with the '&' so that execution continues instead of waiting for them to exit. Then it ends that command with the ';' and executes the function ':'. That makes 2 calls to ':' which each make 2 calls, and so on until ulimit or your hardware capabilities stop it.
stuart · 790 weeks and 2 days ago
Can't you search before posting a new command..?
onizukar · 790 weeks and 2 days ago
-1 These are really getting old
jmcantrell · 789 weeks and 2 days ago

What do you think?

Any thoughts on this command? Does it work on your machine? Can you do the same thing with only 14 characters?

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