How to uninstall unwanted/unneccessary packages?

**Houmie** · June 4th, 2012

It is often said that Windows has an expiry date like a bottle of milk and this is due the mess it happens when you install/uninstall a bad software, and how it affects the registry.

After 6 weeks working with Ubuntu I finally messed it kind of up.

I followed this link below to install the latest ATI drivers and in my infinite wisdom I didn't take the easier more straight forward (alternative) route and went hardcore with building packages. Even though I have followed every step, it didn't work for me and I ended up removing and purging the ATI driver and take the second route, which finally worked without a fuss.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/12429...s-in-12-04-lts

So now I have ended up with all these weird packages that I installed on the way to compile the drivers, which I don't even need anymore.

Code:

sudo apt-get install build-essential cdbs fakeroot dh-make debhelper
sudo apt-get install debconf libstdc++6 dkms libqtgui4 wget execstack libelfg0 dh-modaliases
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch 
sudo apt-get install i386 lib32gcc1  
sudo apt-get install libc6-i386

Can I simply remove this bloat like this:

sudo apt-get remove xxx

or would this affect my system? Is there still hope?

Thank you,

**Shadius** · June 4th, 2012

Click Here

You could probably do:

Code:

sudo apt-get purge <package_name>

as that removes the package as well as the configuration files.

I usually run:

Code:

sudo apt-get autoclean

and

Code:

sudo apt-get clean

and I use the

Code:

du -sh /var/cache/apt/archives

to compare before and after to see how much space I've gained.

**cortman** · June 4th, 2012

Just one more command:

Code:

sudo apt-get autoremove

**Shadius** · June 4th, 2012

Originally Posted by cortman

Just one more command:

Code:

sudo apt-get autoremove

Oh yes, forgot that one.

**coffeecat** · June 4th, 2012

Why bother? Unless you are really tight for hard drive space, they won't be doing any harm, and they certainly won't be slowing the system down. Also - if you really want to uninstall unwanted apps and libraries, make sure they aren't still needed. A handful of the apps you list come with a default install of Ubuntu, so even if you think you installed them, you didn't. They were already there. wget for one is not an app I would want to uninstall, but you may or may not need it.

And - if you do try a sudo apt-get purge, you may find that some of those libraries are dependencies of other apps you have installed. Proceed with caution and if you do try to purge all or some of those packages and get a message saying that apt-get wants to uninstall other stuff, stop there and post the message so that people can advise.

**Houmie** · June 4th, 2012

Hey guys,

Thank you very much for the help.

I went to the Software center the removed each one one by one.
Does Software center do a apt-get purge or apt-get remove by default?

I have removed the following packages:

Code:

build-essential cdbs fakeroot dh-make debhelper
ia32-libs, ia32-libs-multiarch, lib32gcc1, libc6-i386

I didn't remove the following packages, as it warned me about not removing debconf, I got scared left the rest of them. Well I read their description and didn't understand what they do, so I left them there.

Code:

debconf, libstdc++6, dkms, libqtgui4, wget, execstack, libelfg0, dh-modaliases

If anyone knows if I should remove any of those mentioned above,m please let me know,

Thanks,

**cortman** · June 4th, 2012

Originally Posted by Houmie

Hey guys,

Thank you very much for the help.

I went to the Software center the removed each one one by one.
Does Software center do a apt-get purge or apt-get remove by default?

I have removed the following packages:

Code:

build-essential cdbs fakeroot dh-make debhelper
ia32-libs, ia32-libs-multiarch, lib32gcc1, libc6-i386

I didn't remove the following packages, as it warned me about not removing debconf, I got scared left the rest of them. Well I read their description and didn't understand what they do, so I left them there.

Code:

debconf, libstdc++6, dkms, libqtgui4, wget, execstack, libelfg0, dh-modaliases

If anyone knows if I should remove any of those mentioned above,m please let me know,

Thanks,

You don't want to delete those. And even if they aren't actively being used, like coffeecat said, they're not going to slow down your system.

**linuxman94** · June 4th, 2012

EDIT: Didn't see Coffeecat's post

You really don't need to remove those packages as they take up minimal space on the hard drive.

One thing you must remember is that Linux is NOT Windows. It does not get bloated quite as easily. That said, if you install a lot of programs then it will. The only reason you would need to remove those packages is if you have minimal disk space.

Also, what issue were you having with building the AMD Drivers? I've dealt with them in the past and have not had any problems.

**Houmie** · June 4th, 2012

Oh right, when I was still writing my post when coffeecat posted his reply. No problem I won't touch them anymore.

I hope you agree with the ones I have already removed. If it was stupid, please let me know and I install them back in.

Yeah I guess its still the Windows attitude in me fearing to bloat the system.

I need some more time to get used to it.

@linuxman94

I have followed every step there. After a reboot though the ATi card wasn't recognized 100%, since fglrxinfo was giving me some weird information.

The display didn't get properly detected and got lost after each reboot. (see screenshot below)

http://askubuntu.com/questions/14638...ts-cant-rotate

Installing from the script without doing packages worked like a charm for me though.