Cleaning up packages?
-
I noticed while updating my system just how many packages I have installed that I don't recognize.
I tend to think that minimalism is better for security, so I'd like to remove any packages that I'm not using, but this is a bit of a scary task.
Does anybody have a safe method for reviewing and purging unused or bloat packages while obviously making sure not to accidentally remove important dependencies?
I'm on arch btw.
-
I noticed while updating my system just how many packages I have installed that I don't recognize.
I tend to think that minimalism is better for security, so I'd like to remove any packages that I'm not using, but this is a bit of a scary task.
Does anybody have a safe method for reviewing and purging unused or bloat packages while obviously making sure not to accidentally remove important dependencies?
I'm on arch btw.
Let's just say my last attempt at automated cleanup didn't go well (my desktop disappeared!) Now I’m a collector and keep everything.
-
I noticed while updating my system just how many packages I have installed that I don't recognize.
I tend to think that minimalism is better for security, so I'd like to remove any packages that I'm not using, but this is a bit of a scary task.
Does anybody have a safe method for reviewing and purging unused or bloat packages while obviously making sure not to accidentally remove important dependencies?
I'm on arch btw.
Just leave it. Either they do something in the background. Then you'll get issues when they're missing, and you'll never know which package is missing for what.
Or they don't do anything, then they just take up a few MB of disk space."Cleaning up" is the most sure-fire way to destroy your OS, and absolutely not worth anyone's time. Trust me, I've made that mistake multiple times.