Linux gurus - need an explanation for the following shell commands sequence
 

:(){ :|:&};:


DO NOT TRY IT ON A PRODUCTION BOX!
Can anyone explain what the above sequence performs?

It's a fork bomb - oldest trick in the book. It defines a function which calls itself over and over again til the comp dies an ugly death...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_bomb

That'll teach you to type random stuff in the terminal, maybe you'll type this by accident. The wiki says the cure for it is:

That's for z-shell, I suppose it must be translated for bash.