Re: how to find why packages are automatically installed?
On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:39 AM, Michael M. Moore
<michael@writemoore.net> wrote:
>
> It's just that, in this case, I actually wanted aptitude to wipe half
> my system, and I didn't realize I was preventing that by marking a key
> package as a keeper.
I solved this problem by doing it this way:
I created a few meta-packages that just list the deps that I really
want. They go:
mrc-desktop
mrc-laptop
mrc-common
Then host machine specific packages that depend on desktop/laptop as
appropriate, and the corresponding kernels.
Since I happen to use dselect (it was the first one I used and so I've
stuck with it)., I would go in and do a normal upgrade. After that
was done, and everything was up to date, I would do:
[S]elect
Scroll down to [Up to date installed packages] and use the <_> to
schedule it to purge EVERYTHING off of my system.
I then find the host specific package and reselect it, thus bringing
back in just the stuff I want, and it's deps.
Then I do an install.
Sometimes I decide I don't want packages any more, so I remove them
from my personal list of apps, and away it goes.
This is much more interesting after a full install, where a good
number of the packages then disappear. This is also useful if I did
an apt-get install on a package to try it out. Sometimes I'll pull
in a whole bunch of different tools to try things out, then later
decide I don't like any of them. Ones I want to keep, I'll add to the
appropriate metapackage. Otherwise, they'll get cleaned out the next
time I do the above.
I assume I could do similar with aptitude, but I've not yet bothered
to learn it.
I do find that keeping a metapackage around that lists what I want is
nice for rebuilds though. I think it's easier than saving off
selections.
One thing I have run across that you might want to be aware of while
you're cleaning out unused packages:
Sometimes packages are broken in that multiple packages will use the
same config files. If you remove one package, it takes the config
files with it, breaking the other.
So far the only one I've personally had that happen with is the ldap
client stuff, and the bug about that has been open for a few years
now. But, I wouldn't be surprised to find other packages might have
similar issues.
mrc
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