[SOLVED] Track changes in program installation?

I always use Synaptic to install new software and I have the habit of clicking "Show Details" then copying and pasting that list of changes into a document before clicking "Apply." I do that because if I don't like the program, I know exactly what to remove: the program and its dependencies, but not dependencies that were already there before the installation.

I wonder if there is a smarter way to do that (for Debian).

Hi,

I use "apt-get autoremove" and sometimes look in /var/log/apt/history.log.

Evo2.

---------- Post added 2015-05-28 at 15:37 ----------

Hi,

I use "apt-get autoremove" and sometimes look in /var/log/apt/history.log.

Evo2.

Excellent. Short of a tool that will do the selective uninstallation for me (which I rarely ever do), this is perfect. At least I don't have to take notes manually anymore.

Hi,

Originally Posted by lucmove Excellent. Short of a tool that will do the selective uninstallation for me (which I rarely ever do)

That is what "apt-get autoremove" does - it will remove packages that you did not actually request to be installed. For example if you install package x, and package x depends on y and z which are not already on your system, you can then remove packages, x, y and z by doing:

apt-get remove x
apt-get autoremove

Evo2.

Originally Posted by evo2 apt-get remove x apt-get autoremove

Or just use:

# aptitude remove <name of package>

(aptitude auto-autoremoves)

Or:

# aptitude purge <name of package>

To remove the package and all of it's associated configuration and data files.

Hi,

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick Or just use: # aptitude remove <name of package> (aptitude auto-autoremoves) Or: # aptitude purge <name of package> To remove the package and all of it's associated configuration and data files.

It is generally bad practice to use both apt-get and aptitude since aptitude uses its own database for things like held packages. I think it is fine to use aptitude but I find apt-get more to my liking and it is the tool Debian recommends (since the release of squeeze) for non-interactive package management.

Evo2.

Hi,

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick Or just use: # aptitude remove <name of package> (aptitude auto-autoremoves) Or: # aptitude purge <name of package> To remove the package and all of it's associated configuration and data files.

It is generally bad practice to use both apt-get and aptitude since aptitude uses its own database for things like held packages. I think it is fine to use aptitude but I find apt-get more to my liking and it is the tool Debian recommends (since the release of squeeze) for non-interactive package management.

Evo2.