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Re: can mozilla be safely removed?



Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org> writes:

> $ apt-cache show mozilla
> Description: Mozilla Web Browser - dummy package
>  This is a dummy package that depends on the main components of the
>  mozilla web browser. It is here to ease upgrades, installations, and
>  provide a consistent upgrade path from previous versions.
>  It can safely be removed with no ill effects.
>
> I see, it is one of those packages of yore, still around after
> having done whatever transitional service it did, and I can now
> purge the sucker.
>
> Or will my mozilla upgrades now become a fragmented manual
> nightmare...?

Me, I'd believe the package description and delete it[1].

> Duh, I can't just say apt-get install mozilla anymore.

<soapbox>But you didn't want to in the first place; since you're using
aptitude as your front-end, you can look at what the mozilla
meta-package actually depends on, and only install the parts of it you
actually use (say, the Web browser part but not the mail reader.)
[1] And you can mark the meta-package as automatically installed; this
is a minor lie, but it causes aptitude to automatically delete the
package if nothing else depends on it, which it sounds like is the
effect you want.</soapbox>

-- 
David Maze         dmaze@debian.org      http://people.debian.org/~dmaze/
"Theoretical politics is interesting.  Politicking should be illegal."
	-- Abra Mitchell



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