Remove every other file

rmevoth.lua

#!/usr/bin/env lua
-- does what it says on the tin
-- note that this removes files and directories indiscriminately, unlike the python script
-- also, no special options or anything like that
-- this is as small as it gets
require"lfs"

t = {}
for n in lfs.dir"." do
	if n:sub(1,1) ~= "." then
		t[#t+1] = n
	end
end
table.sort(t)
for n=1,#t do
	if n%2 == 1 then
		os.remove(t[n])
	end
end

rmevoth.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import getopt, os, sys

def gen_remove_list():
    files = os.listdir(".")
    files.sort()

    remove = False
    for file in files[:]:
        if os.path.isfile(file):
            if remove:
                files.remove(file)
            remove = not remove
        else:
            files.remove(file)

    return files

def usage():
    print """Usage: rmevoth.py [OPTIONS]
Remove every other file.

    -h, --help                  Print this usage information
    -v, --verbose               Extra verbosity
    --dry-run                   Don't actually remove anything"""

def main():
    try:
        opts, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], "hv", ["help", "verbose", "dry-run"])
    except getopt.GetoptError, err:
        print str(err)
        usage()
        sys.exit(2)

    verbose = False
    dryrun = False
    for o, a in opts:
        if o == "-v":
            verbose = True
        elif o in ("-h", "--help"):
            usage()
            sys.exit()
        elif o == "--dry-run":
            dryrun = True
        else:
            assert False, "unhandled option"

    files = gen_remove_list()
    for file in files:
        if not dryrun:
            os.remove(file)
        if verbose:
            print("removed `%s'" % file)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()