currently the --max-delete=N behavior is: N > 0: delete N files N == 0: delete no files N < 0: delete no files perhaps for N < 0, the behavior could be "infinite" ? or have it precalc the number of files to delete and delete that many files plus N (so if N is -5 and there are 20 files to delete, rsync would actually delete (20 + N) -> 15).
The behavior or N < 0 is infinite deletions when specified to 3.0.0, but you're better off omitting --max-delete or specifying --max-delete=2147483647 if you don't know what version the client is. The old behavior of --max-delete=0 was unlimited deletions when specified to older rsync versions, which is why an rsync 3.0.0 client will terminate a transfer with an older rsync server if that option was specified. (And the docs warn you to be sure to only specify --max-delete=0 to a 3.0.0 client.)
that works for me, thanks
I changed my mind after noticing that older version used to treat --max-delete=-1 as "halt all deletions". This gives us a way to communicate our max-delete desires to any rsync in a compatible manner. I'm changing the code to pass --max-delete=-1 to the server when either --max-delete=0 or a negative value was specified to 3.0.0.
So, the only supported way to specify "unlimited" is to omit the option or to specify --max-delete=2147483647.