Has a Debian developer ever unintentionally wiped out user files like Apple?

[Adam Warner <lists@consulting.net.nz>]

Hi all,

If you don't know the dreadful news see the Apple screwup here:

http://slashdot.org/articles/01/11/04/0412209.shtml

The original Mac OS X iTunes 2.0 installer script had the lines:

# if iTunes application currently exists, delete it
if [ -e $2Applications/iTunes.app ] ; then
rm -rf $2Applications/iTunes.app 2> /dev/null
fi

While the replacement (2.0.1) has:

# if iTunes application currently exists, delete it
if [ -e "$2Applications/iTunes.app" ] ; then
rm -rf "$2Applications/iTunes.app" 2> /dev/null
fi

Directories with spaces were broken up and separately deleted by the
shell causing massive data loss in some cases.

In has come up in conversation that the only reason I have not
experienced something like this with Debian packages is because I don't
use spaces in paths or mount points.

Could someone with a good history of Debian development please tell me
whether:

(a) Debian packages have been released into unstable, etc. that would
cause unintended data loss either at install, remove or purge time.

(b) Whether there are any known cases of someone being affected.

(c) If so, was it related to spaces in directories?

Thanks. I update unstable all the time and I know Debian developers take
a lot of care when developing their scripts.

Regards,
Adam