Is there a way to find out the 'not used' .deb packages after
dis-upgrade and remove them to free up some disk space?

-ishwar


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On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 03:27:59PM -0500, ISHWAR RATTAN wrote:
>
> Is there a way to find out the 'not used' .deb packages after
> dis-upgrade and remove them to free up some disk space?

I don't know what you mean by "'not used' after dist-upgrade", but if
you have popularity-contest installed you can run
'popcon-largest-unused'.

Regards,
Andrei
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)

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On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 09:32:14PM +0000, Andrei Popescu wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 03:27:59PM -0500, ISHWAR RATTAN wrote:
> >
> > Is there a way to find out the 'not used' .deb packages after
> > dis-upgrade and remove them to free up some disk space?
>
> I don't know what you mean by "'not used' after dist-upgrade", but if
> you have popularity-contest installed you can run
> 'popcon-largest-unused'.

I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.

A

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On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:

> I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
> page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.

Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
(auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
available. But it removes the debian packages in
/var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages themselves.

A common scenario:

user has whatsit-1.3.0-1.deb package installed, and has that .deb file
in his /var/cache/apt/archives directory. He then does an upgrade, and
fetches whatsit-1.3.0-3.deb. The upgrade process removes the files
that comprised 1.3.0-1, and replaces them with the files from 1.3.0-3,
of course, but both the debs for whatsit exist in
/var/cache/apt/archives. If the user does an aptitude autoclean, it'll
remove the old version of whatsit (1.3.0-1) in that directory.


>
> A
>


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On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 07:02:12PM -0800, David Fox wrote:
> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
>
> > I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
> > page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.
>
> Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
> available. But it removes the debian packages in
> /var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages themselves.
>
> A common scenario:
>
> user has whatsit-1.3.0-1.deb package installed, and has that .deb file
> in his /var/cache/apt/archives directory. He then does an upgrade, and
> fetches whatsit-1.3.0-3.deb. The upgrade process removes the files
> that comprised 1.3.0-1, and replaces them with the files from 1.3.0-3,
> of course, but both the debs for whatsit exist in
> /var/cache/apt/archives. If the user does an aptitude autoclean, it'll
> remove the old version of whatsit (1.3.0-1) in that directory.
>

Is the OP referring to cruft build-up whereby he installs a package
which brings in lots of dependancies and later removes the package and
is wondering what takes care of those dependants?

Aptitude takes care of these on packages you install and later remove
with it. Note, however, that packages installed with some other tool
don't get managed this way; they all look like they are manually
installed.

A common issue for me is immediatly after a fresh install. I never
select any tasks on install and get a base system. I then use aptitude
to mark anything I don't specifically want as 'A'utomatically installed.
If nothing depends on it, it will be removed. Henseforth, I only use
aptitude and no cruft builds up.

Dear OP: do any of these scenarios address your issue or is there
something else?

Doug.


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On Friday 16 November 2007 22:02, David Fox wrote:
> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
> > I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
> > page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.
>
> Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
> available. But it removes the debian packages in
> /var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages themselves.

[Common scenario elided]

I wonder if "deborphan" meets the OP's need? It's a utility
that identifies "left over" packages that no other packages
depend on. Library packages that meet this description are
probably left-overs and can be removed.

See <http://packages.debian.org/etch/deborphan> for more details.

-- A.
--
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Andrew Reid wrote:
> On Friday 16 November 2007 22:02, David Fox wrote:
>
>> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
>>> page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.
>>>
>> Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
>> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
>> available. But it removes the debian packages in
>> /var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages themselves.
>>
>
> [Common scenario elided]
>
> I wonder if "deborphan" meets the OP's need? It's a utility
> that identifies "left over" packages that no other packages
> depend on. Library packages that meet this description are
> probably left-overs and can be removed.
>
> See <http://packages.debian.org/etch/deborphan> for more details.
>
> -- A.
>
Perhaps the OP is referring to .deb packages accumulating in
/var/cache/apt/archives. After many upgrades and dist-upgrades there
will be quite a few old versions of many .deb files that build up.
Also, uninstalled packages still leave their .deb files in the
archives. I wrote a program a while back (in Python) which handles this
for me, giving statistics on how many package .deb files exist which are
not installed, or are duplicated in the archives. It then gives options
for deleting them with, or without prompting. I don't know of any
packaged program that does this, however. That's why I wrote my own.
This is what the program shows when it is started up:

----------------------------------------
CleanApt v0.4.0 - an apt cache cleaner

Total installed packages: 743 Total uninstalled packages in
archive: 23
Total packages in archive: 765 Total files in
archive: 843
Packages in archive w/dups: 59 Files in archive in dup
pkgs: 137


Delete uninstalled packages from archive (y/N/p/q)? y
----------------------------------------

Running the program with -d will automatically remove dup deb files
leaving only the one with the most recent date. Using -h will, of
course, give a few screens of on options and usage.

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Marc Shapiro
mshapiro_42@yahoo.com



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On Sat, 17 Nov 2007, Marc Shapiro wrote:

> many package .deb files exist which are not installed, or are duplicated in
> the archives. It then gives options for deleting them with, or without
> prompting. I don't know of any packaged program that does this, however.
> That's why I wrote my own. This is what the program shows when it is started
> up:

Will you be willing to post your program?

-ishwar


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ISHWAR RATTAN wrote:
>
>
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2007, Marc Shapiro wrote:
>
>> many package .deb files exist which are not installed, or are
>> duplicated in the archives. It then gives options for deleting them
>> with, or without prompting. I don't know of any packaged program
>> that does this, however. That's why I wrote my own. This is what the
>> program shows when it is started up:
>
> Will you be willing to post your program?
>
> -ishwar
>
Done. I have posted it to my web site, which can be found at:

http://mysite.verizon.net/~mshapiro_42/index.html

From the main page, take the 'Misc' link, scroll to the bottom and
click on 'Cleanapt.' It is posted as a text file so that you can view
it online. Simply save the file to your computer and change or remove
the extension. You will need to modify the permissions to make it
executable. The program needs to be run as root to actually clean up
the archives. I run it with sudo. It will run and display the opening
statistics as a normal user, however.

--
Marc Shapiro
mshapiro_42@yahoo.com



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--- Marc Shapiro <mshapiro_42@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Andrew Reid wrote:
> > On Friday 16 November 2007 22:02, David Fox wrote:
> >
> >> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West
> <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or
> auto-clean. Check the man
> >>> page. It will remove debs that aren't current.
> or something like that.
> >>>
> >> Actually, all that does is to remove either all
> (clean) or selected
> >> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're
> debs no longer
> >> available. But it removes the debian packages in
> >> /var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages
> themselves.
> >>
> >
> > [Common scenario elided]
> >
> > I wonder if "deborphan" meets the OP's need?
> It's a utility
> > that identifies "left over" packages that no other
> packages
> > depend on. Library packages that meet this
> description are
> > probably left-overs and can be removed.
> >
> > See <http://packages.debian.org/etch/deborphan>
> for more details.
> >
> > -- A.
> >
> Perhaps the OP is referring to .deb packages
> accumulating in
> /var/cache/apt/archives. After many upgrades and
> dist-upgrades there
> will be quite a few old versions of many .deb files
> that build up.
> Also, uninstalled packages still leave their .deb
> files in the
> archives. I wrote a program a while back (in
> Python) which handles this
> for me, giving statistics on how many package .deb
> files exist which are
> not installed, or are duplicated in the archives.
> It then gives options
> for deleting them with, or without prompting. I
> don't know of any
> packaged program that does this, however. That's
> why I wrote my own.
> This is what the program shows when it is started
> up:
>
> ----------------------------------------
> CleanApt v0.4.0 - an apt cache cleaner
>
> Total installed packages: 743 Total uninstalled
> packages in
> archive: 23
> Total packages in archive: 765 Total files in
> archive: 843
> Packages in archive w/dups: 59 Files in archive
> in dup
> pkgs: 137
>
>
> Delete uninstalled packages from archive (y/N/p/q)?
> y
> ----------------------------------------
>
> Running the program with -d will automatically
> remove dup deb files
> leaving only the one with the most recent date.
> Using -h will, of
> course, give a few screens of on options and
> usage.
>
sounds intresting, you have the .deb posted online
somewhere, or in a repository? I would be intrested in
looking at it.


jwlockhart

this user is penguin powered


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joseph lockhart wrote:
> --- Marc Shapiro <mshapiro_42@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Andrew Reid wrote:
>>
>>> On Friday 16 November 2007 22:02, David Fox wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West
>>>>
>> <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or
>>>>>
>> auto-clean. Check the man
>>
>>>>> page. It will remove debs that aren't current.
>>>>>
>> or something like that.
>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> Actually, all that does is to remove either all
>>>>
>> (clean) or selected
>>
>>>> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're
>>>>
>> debs no longer
>>
>>>> available. But it removes the debian packages in
>>>> /var/cache/apt/archives, not the actual packages
>>>>
>> themselves.
>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> [Common scenario elided]
>>>
>>> I wonder if "deborphan" meets the OP's need?
>>>
>> It's a utility
>>
>>> that identifies "left over" packages that no other
>>>
>> packages
>>
>>> depend on. Library packages that meet this
>>>
>> description are
>>
>>> probably left-overs and can be removed.
>>>
>>> See <http://packages.debian.org/etch/deborphan>
>>>
>> for more details.
>>
>>> -- A.
>>>
>>>
>> Perhaps the OP is referring to .deb packages
>> accumulating in
>> /var/cache/apt/archives. After many upgrades and
>> dist-upgrades there
>> will be quite a few old versions of many .deb files
>> that build up.
>> Also, uninstalled packages still leave their .deb
>> files in the
>> archives. I wrote a program a while back (in
>> Python) which handles this
>> for me, giving statistics on how many package .deb
>> files exist which are
>> not installed, or are duplicated in the archives.
>> It then gives options
>> for deleting them with, or without prompting. I
>> don't know of any
>> packaged program that does this, however. That's
>> why I wrote my own.
>> This is what the program shows when it is started
>> up:
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>> CleanApt v0.4.0 - an apt cache cleaner
>>
>> Total installed packages: 743 Total uninstalled
>> packages in
>> archive: 23
>> Total packages in archive: 765 Total files in
>> archive: 843
>> Packages in archive w/dups: 59 Files in archive
>> in dup
>> pkgs: 137
>>
>>
>> Delete uninstalled packages from archive (y/N/p/q)?
>> y
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> Running the program with -d will automatically
>> remove dup deb files
>> leaving only the one with the most recent date.
>> Using -h will, of
>> course, give a few screens of on options and
>> usage.
>>
>>
> sounds intresting, you have the .deb posted online
> somewhere, or in a repository? I would be intrested in
> looking at it.
>
>
> jwlockhart
>
> this user is penguin powered
>
>
> __________________________________________________ __________________________________
> Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
> http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
>
>
>
My previous post had a link to where I have Cleanapt available on the
web, but I will repost it here to make sure that people get it. It is
not packaged as a .deb file.

http://mysite.verizon.net/~mshapiro_42/index.html

From the main page, take the 'Misc' link, scroll to the bottom and
click on 'Cleanapt.' It is posted as a text file so that you can view
it online. Simply save the file to your computer and change or remove
the extension. You will need to modify the permissions to make it
executable. The program needs to be run as root to actually clean up
the archives. I run it with sudo. It will run and display the opening
statistics as a normal user, however.


--
Marc Shapiro
mshapiro_42@yahoo.com



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Marc Shapiro wrote:
> My previous post had a link to where I have Cleanapt available on the
> web, but I will repost it here to make sure that people get it. It is
> not packaged as a .deb file.
>
> http://mysite.verizon.net/~mshapiro_42/index.html
>
> From the main page, take the 'Misc' link, scroll to the bottom and
> click on 'Cleanapt.' It is posted as a text file so that you can view
> it online. Simply save the file to your computer and change or remove
> the extension. You will need to modify the permissions to make it
> executable. The program needs to be run as root to actually clean up
> the archives. I run it with sudo. It will run and display the
> opening statistics as a normal user, however.
>
>
Marc

That does the job very nicely - good coding there.

Thanks

Andy

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Please remember to trim messages you're replying to.

We don't need to have all prior messages in the thread
repeated for each reply..

Steve
--
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> My previous post had a link to where I have Cleanapt
> available on the
> web, but I will repost it here to make sure that
> people get it. It is
> not packaged as a .deb file.
>
> http://mysite.verizon.net/~mshapiro_42/index.html
>
> From the main page, take the 'Misc' link, scroll to
> the bottom and
> click on 'Cleanapt.' It is posted as a text file so
> that you can view
> it online. Simply save the file to your computer
> and change or remove
> the extension. You will need to modify the
> permissions to make it
> executable. The program needs to be run as root to
> actually clean up
> the archives. I run it with sudo. It will run and
> display the opening
> statistics as a normal user, however.
>
>
> --
> Marc Shapiro
> mshapiro_42@yahoo.com
>
yes thank you, i saw that you had posted the link not
long after i asked, sorry about that, i go out of town
for work and when i do a couple of days of mail build
up


jwlockhart

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On Nov 16, 7:10 pm, "David Fox" <dfox94...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <and...@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
>
> > I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
> > page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.
>
> Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
> (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
> available.

Actually, autoclean removes packages that are no longer the latest
available from the local package cache.


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On Sunday 18 November 2007 20:03, Paul Johnson wrote:
> On Nov 16, 7:10 pm, "David Fox" <dfox94...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 11/16/07, Andrew Sackville-West <and...@farwestbilliards.com> wrote:
> > > I think OP is looking for aptitude clean or auto-clean. Check the man
> > > page. It will remove debs that aren't current. or something like that.
> >
> > Actually, all that does is to remove either all (clean) or selected
> > (auto-clean) - selected in the sense that they're debs no longer
> > available.
>
> Actually, autoclean removes packages that are no longer the latest
> available from the local package cache.

I' m sorry to disagree Paul, but that's not the way I found autoclean to work.
I thought it would remove all but the latest package versions, but in effect
only removed those that were no longer available from the repo. I was still
left with multiple versions of packages, in some cases 3, or 4 versions of
the same package. I presume this is so that you can revert to an earlier
version of a package if you have a problem with the latest one, and without
having to download it again.

I havn't tried Marc's script yet, but if it works as he says, it should remove
all but the latest package versions in /var/cache/apt/archives.

Perhaps "clean-all-but-the-latest" would be a good addition to apt-get.

Only light hearted week-end ramblings.

Nigel.


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Nigel Henry wrote:
> <snip>
> I havn't tried Marc's script yet, but if it works as he says, it should remove
> all but the latest package versions in /var/cache/apt/archives.
>
> Perhaps "clean-all-but-the-latest" would be a good addition to apt-get.
>
> Only light hearted week-end ramblings.
>
> Nigel.
>
To confirm, having tried Marc's script it *does* do exactly that -
either with the option to agree the removal of each package or using the
-d switch, to make it do it automatically. And it is the latest that is
selected by default to be retained.

Andy


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andy wrote:
> Nigel Henry wrote:
>> <snip>
>> I havn't tried Marc's script yet, but if it works as he says, it
>> should remove all but the latest package versions in
>> /var/cache/apt/archives.
>>
>> Perhaps "clean-all-but-the-latest" would be a good addition to apt-get.
>>
>> Only light hearted week-end ramblings.
>>
>> Nigel.
>>
> To confirm, having tried Marc's script it *does* do exactly that -
> either with the option to agree the removal of each package or using
> the -d switch, to make it do it automatically. And it is the latest
> that is selected by default to be retained.
>
> Andy
I'm glad to hear that the program is being useful for people other than
myself. The only problem that I have ever had with it is that on
occasion the output of 'ls' has changed and that has caused problems
when it goes to check the dates. That has not happened for quite a
while, though. With any luck, the output format of 'ls' will be left alone.

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i am wondering if anyone has found or created a
terminal only version of debian (similar to the slax
frodo) or if such a thing could be installed from the
net install. let's just say that it is for special
purposes though i would like to have things like lynx,
finch, ircii, mpc, and so forth

jwlockhart

Registered Linux User #458799
this user is penguin powered


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On Nov 19, 2007 8:40 PM, joseph lockhart <jwl_andlovesaidno@yahoo.com> wrote:
> i am wondering if anyone has found or created a
> terminal only version of debian (similar to the slax
> frodo) or if such a thing could be installed from the
> net install. let's just say that it is for special
> purposes though i would like to have things like lynx,
> finch, ircii, mpc, and so forth

Install just the base system and you will have X-less Debian.


Cheers,
Kelly Clowers


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On Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 08:40:12PM -0800, joseph lockhart wrote:
> i am wondering if anyone has found or created a
> terminal only version of debian (similar to the slax
> frodo) or if such a thing could be installed from the
> net install. let's just say that it is for special
> purposes though i would like to have things like lynx,
> finch, ircii, mpc, and so forth

just don't install the "Desktop" task.

then install whatever you want.

A

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On Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 08:40:12PM -0800, joseph lockhart wrote:
> i am wondering if anyone has found or created a
> terminal only version of debian (similar to the slax
> frodo) or if such a thing could be installed from the
> net install. let's just say that it is for special
> purposes though i would like to have things like lynx,
> finch, ircii, mpc, and so forth

I do it whenever I install. You can either use the netinst.iso or CD1.
CD1 only saves you bandwidth if you're using someone else's bandwidth to
download it to burn it. Since you're not using X, you'll find that most
packages you'll want aren't that big anyway (the exception I suppose
would be texlive if you want it).

So use the netinst and when you get to the task selector (a tool that
allows you to install broad strokes of packages), don't select any, not
even "standard system" or whatever its called. With no tasks selected
you get a very minimal base system.

After you reboot and get a prompt, use aptitude and install what you
want: exim4 and mutt for mail, lynx and perhaps links2 (does
javascript), and of course mc (midnight commander). Finish off with
your editor-of-choice (I use vim).

If you specifically don't want any X, I suggest strongly that you use
aptitude interactively so that you can go back and forth if you choose
something that wants to drag in X.

Doug.


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On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 03:47:52PM -0500, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> If you specifically don't want any X, I suggest strongly that you use
> aptitude interactively so that you can go back and forth if you choose
> something that wants to drag in X.

Nothing against doing it that way (interactively), but when running
aptitude or apt-get on the command line you also get a very complete list
of what actions will be taken, and can cancel the install and try again.
To make sure that it (apt-get or aptitude) isn't going to go ahead and do
the install/remove/whatever anyway, I usually use the -s (or -simulate)
option before running the "live" command.

I never have understood the reasons (haven't checked very hard), but it
seems like apt-get normally gives an "are you sure?" prompt before doing
the action, but sometimes it just goes ahead and does it. Perhaps the
no-prompt behavior is automatic if there aren't many/any dependencies
to be hauled in or removed. I don't have enough time on aptitude to
know whether it does the same.

Ken

--
Ken Irving, fnkci+debianuser@uaf.edu


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On Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 03:47:52PM -0500, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:

> After you reboot and get a prompt, use aptitude and install what you
> want: exim4 and mutt for mail, lynx and perhaps links2 (does
> javascript), and of course mc (midnight commander). Finish off with
> your editor-of-choice (I use vim).
>
> If you specifically don't want any X, I suggest strongly that you use
> aptitude interactively so that you can go back and forth if you choose
> something that wants to drag in X.

The other thing I forgot to suggest is that you may find packages
installed as part of base that you don't want either. I find I can pare
base down quite a bit.

Doug.


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