Sharninder wrote:
hi, It's a silly question but i don't know where to ask. What's the use of all the files in the /var/cache/apt/archives directory. They all seem to be debs of any package that i have installed in my comp. ever. Sharninder Singh National Institute Of Management Calcutta Building No. 117 Command Hospital Complex Alipore Kolkatta
They are the actual debs you downloaded for installation. If you ever have tried to re-install a package, you probably noticed that it didn't need to be downloaded again. It is a local "cache" of debs you have installed. This "cache" can get to be quite large, as there is no automatic cleaning of it, and it will continue to build as new upgrades are added.
Most of the time, I just get rid of them with a periodic "apt-get clean" or "apt-get autoclean" to free up the disk space for other uses. You might want to read the MAN page for apt-get and become familiar with these two commands and their differences. My need to access these debs is so infrequent, that I can afford to re-download it if & when needed. I have a broadband conection here and I can get a complete new install in a couple of hours. When I was on a slower (28K) dial-up, I tended to keep them around because the download times were quit long for some of those packages.
Cheers, -Don Spoon-