Score:0

What clutter is left behind after uninstalling language packages?

eg flag

I unistalled a lot of language packages I would never use ( like e.g. russian, thai, arabic, chinese etc. ). When I was searching for a file I came across /usr/share/X11/locale and it still had folders and files about languages I uninstalled. So I wondered, where else are folders and files left behind regarding all these languages. I don't use Linux-based systems very long, so don't know very well where to search. ( Used Windows since 3.1 )

I know they are only small, but I think they are completely useless, and therefor I should be able to delete this clutter. Can anybody confirm my thoughts about this? Autoremove doesn't remove these files. Does that mean I should not remove them, or can I safely clean this up?

And where else can I find imo clutter like this?

I run:

Operating System: Kubuntu 20.04
KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.7
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.68.0
Qt Version: 5.12.8
Kernel Version: 5.15.1-051501-generic
OS Type: 64-bit
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Memory: 15,3 GiB

in triple boot with Windows 10 and Mint 20.1 Ulyssa Cinnamon.

Nmath avatar
ng flag
What files are you talking about exactly? A good rule of thumb is that if you don't know what something is for, leave it alone. I have reservations that these files even take up enough space for it to be worth a second thought. Going through your system looking for "clutter" to delete is a recipe for disaster especially if the file size of these files is negligible.
user535733 avatar
cn flag
A locale is not a language. And what you consider 'clutter' other people might consider 'important'. Language and/or locale selection during install can sometimes be a poor indicator of actual usage. Many users regularly use multiple languages and locales...or move...or travel. Lots of folks go through a phase of wanting a 'clean' system, so your question is understandable. `dpkg -S /complete/path/to/file` will happily tell you which package provided a specific file that you are curious about.
Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
@ Nmath. Your right about the filesizes. And to be clear I wasn't searching for clutter, just stumbled upon some files I thought they wouldn't there. If I delete a language e.g. russian in my eyes that does mean I don't have a Russian keyboard. But I don't want to mess up my system, so that is why I asked. Thank you for the quick answer.
waltinator avatar
it flag
You can uninstall packages that were installed because a now-uninstalled package required them with `sudo apt autoremove`. You can clean up package leftovers (config files, etc) with `sudo apt purge package`. You can find which packages were installed/removed from the files in `/var/log/apt/*`. Read `man apt apt-get apt-cache`.
N0rbert avatar
zw flag
Install Synaptic, then launch it and check used disk space by relevant installed packages. The most space consuming packages are TeXLive LaTeX languages, not locales and language packs. How much space do you want to save? How much free space do you have for now?
Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
@ user535733 Thank you for your quick response. Had some trouble with the wifi connection here, so could respond earlier.
Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
@ waltinator. Thanks I run the purge comment and it responded that the fonts were not installed so could not remove/uninstall them. Thanks for all your information.
Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
@ N0rbert Thanks, I already had Synaptic installed and have no TeXLive nor LaTeX languages installed. I have 4.1 GB left of 25. Can go to the hastle of making my Windows-partition smaller ( 120 --> 110 ), moving the EFI-partition (made one when installing Kubuntu, because Windows screws up the EFI-partition when updating almost every single time ), and moving Kubuntu to the left and then enlarge it. But that opens another can of worms. Having to change all the UUID's in Kubuntu's and Mint's Grub2. /home is another partition btw.
Joepie Es avatar
eg flag
I made my Windows partition smaller ( by 20 GB ) and gave Kubuntu more space. Moved it to the left and enlarged it. To my surprise I didn't have to change all the UUID's in Grub2. It just worked out of the box.I thought I had to change the UUID's of my Mint-, Kubuntu- and /Home-partition.
mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.