Re: Application files in $HOME
On Wed, Jun 25, 2003 at 02:02:04PM -0300, Daniel Ruoso wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Recently I had a problem of exceeded quota in my home directory, so I
> went cleaning it, and I saw many and many files and directories with
> configurations for applications that I've runned in the past, but that
> packages were purged from my system a long time ago, so what is the idea
> (that can be a proposal)?
>
> What if the packages tells to dpkg which files or directories it will
> create on the user's home directory and when a package is purged the
> user could run a program to purge the files of packages that no longer
> exists. This will also help to know what these files means after all, I
> thought about a browser to inspect application's files in my home, so it
> will be easier to decide which files I don't want anymore...
>
> What is needed?
>
> The packages should have a control file (like conffiles) that tells
> which files this package will create.
>
> A repository to store this information so the user can browse it.
>
> A userconfpurge program that the user runs to remove purged packages
> configuration files
>
> A browser to associate the files with the packages and manage them (so
> the user can tell: I don't use icewm anymore, please remove it's
> configuration files).
>
> Is there risk involved?
>
> I don't know if different packages create conf files with the same name,
> if it does so, it would be necessary to avoid this practice.
This would require a lot of work on the part of each maintainer to see
which files get created where. One would need to change the Policy as well
to require maintainers to actually use such a "registry".
I say it is not worth it. Just do a `ls -la` and delete the really old
stuff that you know you don't need. Or even better, add yourself as
a new user to the system, copy all the stuff you need from the old
account, and when ready, remove the old account with all the directiries :)
- Adam
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