Q: How to Delete files with Terminal?

open terminal

type RM

type a space

drag the file on to the terminal window

the path is added automatically

press return

however

it shouldn't take hours to delete a package file unless it has a huge number of smaller files associate with it.

If your drive is taking this long you may want to check it's integrity with Disk Utility.

Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support

I routinely throw away gig's of data, hosts of image files in subfolders for 3D rendering projects and it should not take more than a few minutes at most. I would cancel the delete and check your disk

also is file vault enabled or some 3rd party tool that keeps, manages or purports to enhances your deletion experience? if so disable FV to test and/or remove the 3rd party software from your system.

You are wasting your time. It didn't copy all of the photos. It hard linked them. A hard link makes it look like there are two files, but the two "files" are pointing to the same exact storage area.

The the unix command you are looking for is remove (rm). https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/ man1/rm.1.html

You have to enter the correct syntax for a directory as shown in the man page I linked.

Remove cannot delete a non-empty directory so you have to recursively delete the contents spusing the -R option

It depends on what your definition of "real" is. As for the storage space consumed, it is only using up the space necessary for the original files in the iPhoto library.

Jeff Grunewald wrote:

 

I tried both rm and unlink and Terminal returned this both times: "/Photos Library.photoslibrary: is a directory"

and didn't delete it.
The question is, is it really 92gb or is it pointing just to the 100.77gb iPhoto library it came from and showing 92.16gb

Using a command such as "rm" in the Terminal is not something I would advise to anyone who has to ask about it.

It is like putting a chainsaw in inexperienced hands. This can cause irreparable damage if you make one tiny mistake, with no Command-Z to undo it.

When Photos creates a library from an existing iPhoto library, the files are not duplicated, as Barney explained. So by keeping the Photos library you are not wasting GB of space (and, therefore, you are also not gaining that much space by deleting it).