Re: Delete part of metapackage?
On Sun, Aug 27, 2006 at 05:47:24PM +0000, Elmer E. Dow wrote:
> On Sunday 27 August 2006 08:58 pm, Paul E Condon wrote:
> > On Sun, Aug 27, 2006 at 01:23:26PM +0000, Elmer E. Dow wrote:
> > > Greetings:
> > >
> > > I'm loading Sarge onto a donated computer at a school for K
> > > through grade 2. The hard drive has only a 2.2 GB capacity, so
> > > once I load the KDE and Gnome metapackages I only have about
> > > 120 MB left.
> > >
> > > The kids don't need all of this software, but it seems that I
> > > can't delete or install individual programs (knode, for
> > > example) without deleting or installing the entire KDE
> > > metapackage. Is that correct?
> >
> > ^^^No.
> >
> > > Is there a way around this?
> >
> > Yes. I'm guessing you are using aptitude to manage the package
> > installs. If so, read on. If not aptitude, you need help from
> > someone else.
>
> I'm using aptitude from the command line rather than using the
> menus.
> >
> > For aptitude: Use
> > apt-get remove <a metapackage name>
> >
> > Then you can remove select packages in aptitude without questions
> > about the metapackage getting in your way.
> >
> So removing the metapackage actually removes no program but simply
> disconnects them so they can be handled separately? How then would
> you remove the entire metapackage?
It only removes the metapackage *if* you do it in apt-get or dselect
or ... Just don't do it in aptitude, command line or gui. Aptitude
has automatic deletion of required support packages when a dependent
package is deleted as a 'feature'. It is a nice feature most of the
time, but not always.
>
> I had tried
>
> aptitude purge kde
This, of course, is not what I suggested that you do.
>
> and it seemed that nothing disappeared. In fact, the result of
>
> aptitude show kde
>
> indicated that kde (I assume the metapackage) was still installed.
> Is this because the programs that were part of the package still
> exist? If this is true, how would one delete the entire
> metapackage?
>
The logic is tricky. Aptitude maintains a history of how packages
came to be installed, and uses that to decide what extra packages
to delete when you ask for deletion of a package that cause other
packages to be installed when it was installed. (Is that clear? ;-)
I think that when you delete kde using apt-get, the next time you
start aptitude, it notices that kde is gone and clears the linkages
to all the packages that were required by kde. But I'm not sure.
What I know is that somehow the link between kde and the required
packages in broken by removing kde in apt-get.
To delete a metapackage and all the stuff it dragged in, is a mess
if you did the metapackage install in anything but aptitude. In
aptitude its easy. You just remove the metapackage and all the other
stuff is also removed. That is just the behavior that most people
want, but not you, at least not you just this once.
> > Also, consider getting rid of either gnome or kde. In a situation
> > in which you can't afford a larger hard disk, you hardly need
> > both, IMHO.
> >
> > --
> > Paul E Condon
> > pecondon@mesanetworks.net
>
> My thoughts exactly. I want to save some of the Gnome metapackage's
> software, but delete gnome window manager and gdm. What's Gnome's
> window manager package called? Gnome-desktop-environment,
> gnome-core, etc. all have programs as a part of the package. Is it
> possible to delete the whole Gnome metapackage, then install just
> the individual programs that I need?
>
I don't know how you can find out what individual programs are needed
unless you have them all installed. I think both kde and gnome are OK,
but together they are gross overkill, and confusing, because the user
has to remember which he used to do something in addition to how he
managed to do it. (Not the same in the two systems.)
I use gnome strictly because of gnome terminal. It is my preferred
terminal program for running mutt which is my preferred MUA. In gnome
terminal, control-click on a URL brings up my preferred web browser.
Control-click doesn't seem to do that in any other terminal program.
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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