----- Original message -----
> I was paring down my installation and the command for gcc-4.2-base more
> or less threatened to wipe out everything on the server.
> apt-get purge gcc-4.2-base
http://packages.debian.org/lenny/gcc-4.2-base
> Is that the norm, or is it due to a corrupted package database?
i think its what it should do
> The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer
> required:
> libdns35 linux-libc-dev autotools-dev openvpn-blacklist
> The following extra packages will be installed:
> libdns35
> The following packages will be REMOVED:
> adduser* ajaxterm* apache2* apache2-mpm-prefork* apache2-utils*
> apache2.2-common* apt* apt-show-versions* apt-utils*
> aptitude* base-files* base-passwd* bash* belocs-locales-bin* bind9*
> binutils* bsdmainutils* bsdutils*
> build-essential* bzip2* comerr-dev* console-setup* console-terminus*
> console-tools* coreutils* cpio* cpp* cpp-4.2*
> cron* curl* dash* debconf* debconf-i18n* debianutils* debootstrap*
> defoma* dhcp3-client* dhcp3-common* dhcp3-server*
> diff* dmidecode* dpkg* dpkg-dev* e2fslibs* e2fsprogs* eject* ethtool*
> fail2ban* file* findutils* fontconfig*
> fontconfig-config* g++* g++-4.2* gcc* gcc-4.2* gcc-4.2-base*
> gettext-base* gnupg* gpgv* grep* groff-base* gzip*
> hostname* ifupdown* initramfs-tools* initscripts* iproute* iptables*
> iputils-ping* klogd* laptop-detect* less*
> libacl1* libapache2-mod-php5* libapr1* libaprutil1* libapt-pkg-perl*
> libatm1* libattr1* libaudio2*
> libauthen-pam-perl* libbind9-30* libblkid1* libbz2-1.0* libc6*
I think that ones quite essentiell
GNU C Library: Shared libraries
Contains the standard libraries that are used by nearly all programs on the system. This package includes shared versions of the standard C library and the standard math library, as well as many others.
http://packages.debian.org/lenny/libc6
libc6-dev*
> libc6-i686* libcap1* libck-connector0*
> libcomerr2* libconsole* libcupsys2* libcurl3* libcurl3-gnutls*
> libcwidget3* libdb4.6* libdbd-mysql-perl*
> libdbd-pg-perl* libdbi-perl* libdbus-1-3* libdevmapper1.02.1* libedit2*
> libexpat1* libfontconfig1* libfreetype6*
> libfribidi0* libgcc1* libgcrypt11* libgdbm3* libgnutls13* libgomp1*
> libgpg-error0* libice6* libidn11*
> libio-pty-perl* libisc35* libisccc30* libisccfg30* libiw29* libjpeg62*
> libkadm55* libkeyutils1* libkrb5-dev*
> libkrb53* liblcms1* libldap-2.4-2* liblocale-gettext-perl* libltdl3*
> libltdl3-dev* liblwres30* liblzo2-2* libmagic1*
> libmd5-perl* libmng1* libmyodbc* libmysqlclient15-dev*
> libmysqlclient15off* libncurses5* libncurses5-dev*
> libncursesw5* libnet-daemon-perl* libnet-ssleay-perl* libnewt0.52*
> libodbcinstq1c2* libopencdk10* libossp-uuid15*
> libpam-modules* libpam-smbpass* libpam0g* libpcap0.8* libpcre3*
> libplrpc-perl* libpng12-0* libpopt0* libpq-dev*
> libpq5* libqt3-mt* libreadline5* libsamplerate0* libsasl2-2*
> libsasl2-modules* libselinux1* libsepol1*
> libsigc++-2.0-0c2a* libslang2* libsm6* libsox0* libsqlite0* libsqlite3-0*
> libss2* libssl-dev* libssl0.9.8*
> libstdc++6* libstdc++6-4.2-dev* libsysfs2* libtasn1-3*
> libtext-charwidth-perl* libtext-iconv-perl*
> libtext-wrapi18n-perl* libtimedate-perl* libtool* libusb-0.1-4* libuuid1*
> libvolume-id0* libwrap0* libx11-6*
> libx11-data* libxau6* libxcb-xlib0* libxcb1* libxcursor1* libxdmcp6*
> libxext6* libxfixes3* libxft2* libxi6*
> libxinerama1* libxml2* libxrandr2* libxrender1* libxslt1.1* libxt6*
> locales* login* logrotate* lsb-base*
> lsb-release* lynx* lzma* make* makedev* man-db* mawk* mii-diag* mktemp*
> module-init-tools* mount* mysql-client*
> mysql-client-5.0* mysql-server* mysql-server-5.0* nano* ncurses-base*
> ncurses-bin* net-tools* netbase* netcat*
> netcat-traditional* ntpdate* odbc-postgresql* odbcinst1debian1*
> openssh-client* openssh-server* openssl*
> openssl-blacklist* openvpn* passwd* patch* pciutils* pcmciautils* perl*
> perl-base* perl-modules* php5-cgi* php5-cli*
> php5-common* php5-mysql* php5-pgsql* postgresql* postgresql-8.3*
> postgresql-client* postgresql-client-8.3*
> postgresql-client-8.4* postgresql-client-common* postgresql-common*
> postgresql-contrib* postgresql-contrib-8.3*
> postgresql-server-dev-8.3* procps* psmisc* python* python-central*
> python-minimal* python-support* python2.5*
> python2.5-minimal* resolvconf* samba* samba-common* sed* smbclient*
> smbfs* sox* sqlite* ssh* ssl-cert*
> startup-tasks* sudo* sysklogd* system-services* sysvutils* tar* tasksel*
> tasksel-data* tcpd* telnet* traceroute*
> ttf-dejavu* ttf-dejavu-core* ttf-dejavu-extra* tzdata* ubuntu-keyring*
> ubuntu-minimal* ucf* udev* unixodbc*
> unixodbc-dev* update-inetd* upstart* upstart-compat-sysv* upstart-logd*
> usbutils* util-linux* util-linux-locales*
> uuid-runtime* vim-common* vim-tiny* webmin* wget* whiptail* winbind*
> wireless-tools* wpasupplicant* x11-common*
> zlib1g* zlib1g-dev*
> The following packages will be upgraded:
> libdns35
> WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed.
> This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing!
> apt libc6 (due to apt) libgcc1 (due to apt) libstdc++6 (due to apt)
> base-files base-passwd (due to base-files)
> libpam-modules (due to base-files) bash debianutils (due to bash)
> libncurses5 (due to bash) bsdutils coreutils
> libacl1 (due to coreutils) libselinux1 (due to coreutils) dash mktemp
> (due to debianutils) diff dpkg lzma (due to
> dpkg) e2fsprogs e2fslibs (due to e2fsprogs) libblkid1 (due to e2fsprogs)
> libcomerr2 (due to e2fsprogs) libss2 (due
> to e2fsprogs) libuuid1 (due to e2fsprogs) findutils grep gzip hostname
> login libpam0g (due to login) mount
> ncurses-base ncurses-bin perl-base python-minimal python2.5-minimal (due
> to python-minimal) sed sysvutils libsepol1
> (due to sysvutils) tar util-linux lsb-base (due to util-linux) tzdata
> (due to util-linux) libslang2 (due to
> util-linux) zlib1g (due to util-linux)
> 1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 317 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
> Need to get 11.3kB of archives.
> After this operation, 643MB disk space will be freed.
> You are about to do something potentially harmful.
regards
Simon