Quoting "Sharpe, Sam J" sam.sharpe+lists.redhat@gmail.com:
2009/5/29 Alan Cox alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk:
'shred' is part of coreutils (i.e. installed by default). Doing something like
shred /dev/sdX
as root will write various bit patterns 25 times over the entire drive (see the man page for more options).
Whoopeeedoo. Thats still not the correct way to erase a disk.
Use security erase, that is why it is there.
I use a hammer, because it wins over all other solutions on both ease of use and catharsis.
For laptop (1.8" and 2.5") disks, sure. A couple of good bangs and you have yourself a maraca.
I haven't so far been able to destroy 3.5" disks with a hammer, as the enclosure is quite durable. A sledgehammer would probably do the trick. Or, you can open up the hard drive and smash the magnetic disks.