What files can I safely delete from My HD

[Mustang64]

OK - that's a long post heading. Sorry 'bout that!

Here I sit, all filled with wonder over the vast amount (number) of files loaded on my system, wondering if all those are required...

Can I delete stuff like

kde-i18n-cs
kde-i18-da
kde-i18-de
kde-i18-es
kde-i18-fr
---it
---ja
---nl
---pl
---ru
---tr
etc

I figure if I can dump most of these type programs (alturnative languages) I should be able to dump about half the "fat"...

Is there a "code" or "flag" I can look for that will tell me "it's OK to delete this file/package without damaging your system operation"? I'm thinking about K-Package where, in the right hand pane, it may have an entry of

Priority Optional

or

priority extra

or

Priority

etc?

I looked around the forum and FAQ, but didn't find anything quite like what I was looking for...

GMD

[UnderScore]

You will probably want to use a package manager tool such as aptitiude or a GUI front end such as synaptic. As for the KDE internationalization or i18n packages, I use the following command to remove them. Note: I am in the USA so I have no need for the i18n addons, anyone else may need a i18n package appropriate to their locale.
The following 4 commands show me packages that kde uses for internationalization support and strips off all the other extraneous information.

dpkg-query -l

dpkg-query -l | grep i18n

dpkg-query -l | grep i18n | grep kde

dpkg-query -l | grep i18n | grep kde | cut -d' ' -f3

I can feed this to apt-get so that it will remove those packages.

apt-get remove `dpkg-query -l | grep i18n | grep kde | cut -d' ' -f3`

I remove openoffice and other German tools as follows.

apt-get remove openoffice-de-en manpages-de trans-de-en

I remove enigma and bacula as follows

 apt-get remove enigma bacula-common

I also remove emacs since I don't like it or use it.

apt-get remove emacs21 emacs21-bin-common emacs21-common emacsen-common gettext-el zile

All Debian package tools will give you a warning if you were to remove a critical base package but it will probably not warn you about any other non-critical packages. A priority flag only exists on key packages such as the dpkg package system or init-utils.
I hope this helps.
James

[Mustang64]

Thanks Underscore, I'll try at least part of your code tonight.

I'm using KPackage to work with my installed, updated, and new package installation. In the right hand screen, where the explaination of the "package" is, there is another entry labeled "Priority". Some of the entries I have seen here include "Optional", "Extra", "Standard", etc. I'm of the impression that any Packages marked "Optional" can be dropped, as long as there will not be any dependency issues.

It also looks like the Packages marked "Standard" need to be left alone, as these are associated with the overall operation of the system...

Am I on the right track, or just flailing around in shallow water not knowing a simple answer is at hand...???

Anyone know the answer???

Thanks

GMD

[CrashedAgain]

first thing to do to reduce space is to install localepurge to remove support for languages you do not need. Then I make up a list then remove it all at once. Check the packages to see what they do.

Procedure is to make up the list as a text file. Here is my purgelist:

3270* apache* artwiz* bb dillo jpilot* ace-of* airsnort* amanda* anacron bonobo* brltty chromium* cpuburn emacs* enigma euro* falconseye* fb-music-low fetchmail fluxbox fortunes* frozen* gaim gnuchess gnuhtml2latex gnumeric grub gtans imaze jpilot kalarm karm kde-i18n* kstars kasteroids katomic kbattleship kbounce kmahjong knode kpilot koules kreversi ksokoban lynx lyx-* manpages-de minicom mozilla* mutt mysql* netris nis scotty selflinux squid timeout trans-de* transfig user-de vnc* wavemon wireless* wlcard* wmaker* x3270* xbattle xboard xboing xchat* xdelta xdialog xgalaga xtel zile xskat

then the command is :

apt-get --purge remove `cat purgelist`

to remove the whole lot at once. The ` is the symbol on the same key as the tilde (~) , not the normal single quote.

You will get a long list of what is going to be removed, check it carefully to make sure you are not trashing something you want to keep.

Note you can use wildcards eg kde-i18n*

Some comments on the packages in the list: Many of these are games I do not want. Ace-of* is the solitaire game, I remove it & install kpat instead. apache is a webserver, not needed unless you have a web page. I remove mozilla then reinstall just the browser, I use konqueror as my main browser. kpilot & jpilot are palm pilot tools. I don't need the braille keyboard (brltty) or wireless support.

Just go slowly at first. Some things will give unexpected results (for instance removing libarts will trash ALL of KDE) so check what is going to happen before you actually do it

Remember, if you overdo it with apt-get it is easy to replace packages also.