On 1/11/22, Roy J. Tellason, Sr. <[email protected]> wrote: > So I'm poking around with mc, and happened across /var/cache/apt/archives > which has a LOT of *.deb files in it, and which seems to include many > versions of the same package, some of them many years old, going all the > way back to 2013. I guess I've been running debian a little longer than I'd > thought... > > Is it okay to just delete older versions of these files? Or should I be > doing something using one of the package management tools? I've mostly used > synaptic, but am also aware of apt-get, apt, aptitude, and am not real > clear on their comparative capabilities. > > I'm looking at over 7500 files amounting to over 9.5GB. > > I also see /var/cache/dictionaries-common, which appears to be tied to a > spelling checker, which I don't use here. And /var/cache/samba, which I > also don't use -- there isn't a windoze machine around here at all. > > What's the best way to get all of this excess stuff out of the system?
Just chiming in until someone can respond with recent firsthand experience. If you go to e.g. "man apt" or "man apt-get", you'll see flag options that are about cleaning up downloaded files. I did this once a couple years ago and so can't remember which one worked for what you're asking, but it does work. Whichever option it is, it leaves the currently installed deb in place and cleanses out anything that's no longer in use. Thank you to the Developers who have left this as a User CHOICE that must be manually addressed if a different option is desired. Users have their various reasons for maintaining older install debs. It's nice to know they're always safe from sudden, silent deletion. Afterthought as I write that because of an experience that I encountered. There's additionally a value you can define that automatically performs the above function every time you update and then upgrade your system's packages. Remembering that detail led to a search that didn't find a tip on which file contains that changeable value, but I did find the following (might need fixed to be one usable line): https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html#_basic_package_management_operations_with_the_commandline If that link doesn't bounce partway down the page to the appropriate section, CTRL+F (or similar browser find feature) on that "operations with the commandline" part of the link should help. It's Section 2.2.2 that contains those various interesting values. If anyone test drives those for the first time, especially without fully understanding what the notes are saying the options do, PLEASE make sure to back up your system first. Been there, done that without backing up in the past. It's not pretty.. Cindy :) -- Cindy-Sue Causey Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA * runs with birdseed *
