Find which Debian packages are only installed because they are recommended or suggested

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On Debian I can use apt-get autoremove to remove packages that are no longer needed, i.e., that are not a dependency of any "manually installed" package. However, this does not remove packages that are merely "suggested" or "recommended" by manually installed packages. How can I find out the list of such packages on my system?

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

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asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

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edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

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asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

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edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

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debian apt package-management dependencies

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

32.3k849109

asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

5,13831219

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

32.3k849109

asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

5,13831219

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

32.3k849109

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

32.3k849109

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:20

Jeff Schaller

32.3k849109

asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

5,13831219

asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

5,13831219

asked Oct 9 '17 at 23:08

a3nm

5,13831219

add a commentÂ |Â

2 Answers
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You can also tell apt-get autoremove to ignore Ã¢Â€ÂœRecommendsÃ¢Â€Â and Ã¢Â€ÂœSuggestsÃ¢Â€Â:

sudo apt-get autoremove -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

Use -s to get a list of the removals this would lead to without actually changing anything:

sudo apt-get autoremove -s -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
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This can be done using the deborphan -n command, or deborphan -an, but paying attention to the fact that this does not seem to really exclude manually installed packages (see here), so they have to be filtered separately. I use:

comm -3 -1 <(apt-mark showmanual | sort) <(deborphan -na | awk 'print $2' | cut -d':' -f1 | sort)

See also another solution in a related question.

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

You can also tell apt-get autoremove to ignore Ã¢Â€ÂœRecommendsÃ¢Â€Â and Ã¢Â€ÂœSuggestsÃ¢Â€Â:

sudo apt-get autoremove -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

Use -s to get a list of the removals this would lead to without actually changing anything:

sudo apt-get autoremove -s -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

You can also tell apt-get autoremove to ignore Ã¢Â€ÂœRecommendsÃ¢Â€Â and Ã¢Â€ÂœSuggestsÃ¢Â€Â:

sudo apt-get autoremove -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

Use -s to get a list of the removals this would lead to without actually changing anything:

sudo apt-get autoremove -s -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

accepted

You can also tell apt-get autoremove to ignore Ã¢Â€ÂœRecommendsÃ¢Â€Â and Ã¢Â€ÂœSuggestsÃ¢Â€Â:

sudo apt-get autoremove -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

Use -s to get a list of the removals this would lead to without actually changing anything:

sudo apt-get autoremove -s -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

You can also tell apt-get autoremove to ignore Ã¢Â€ÂœRecommendsÃ¢Â€Â and Ã¢Â€ÂœSuggestsÃ¢Â€Â:

sudo apt-get autoremove -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

Use -s to get a list of the removals this would lead to without actually changing anything:

sudo apt-get autoremove -s -o Apt::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant=false -o Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant=false

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

answered Oct 10 '17 at 0:51

Stephen Kitt

144k22317382

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

add a commentÂ |Â

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

Thanks a lot! I think this is a much better solution than the one I proposed. Somehow, though, this does not return the same set of packages (it mostly returns more, but it also misses a few that deborphan found).
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 9:45

The difference in output should be explained by your manual selections: deborphan ignores those, so it will find packages you no longer need but that are marked as manually installed. Basically that means you need to periodically review the output of apt-mark showmanual and mark packages you donÃ¢Â€Â™t explicitly need as automatically installed; then if they are in practice no longer necessary, autoremove will suggest their removal.
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:16

Sure, thanks! (In fact, I already have scripts that periodically compare how apt-mark showmanual differs from a list that I maintain separately.) However, my point was that the output of your method is not the same as the output of my method even when I take the output of deborphan and specifically remove the manually installed packages (as per the command that I suggested). So I guess there must be some difference in how these two commands compute their output.
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:38

Ah, OK, I see! IÃ¢Â€Â™m mostly curious about the extra packages which deborphan finds. Perhaps they match the auto-removal configuration in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01autoremove*...
â€“Â Stephen Kitt
Oct 10 '17 at 11:43

Here's the list, along with the aptitude why of each package: zero.crans.org/â€¦
â€“Â a3nm
Oct 10 '17 at 11:52

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

comm -3 -1 <(apt-mark showmanual | sort) <(deborphan -na | awk 'print $2' | cut -d':' -f1 | sort)

See also another solution in a related question.

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

comm -3 -1 <(apt-mark showmanual | sort) <(deborphan -na | awk 'print $2' | cut -d':' -f1 | sort)

See also another solution in a related question.

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
1
down vote

comm -3 -1 <(apt-mark showmanual | sort) <(deborphan -na | awk 'print $2' | cut -d':' -f1 | sort)

See also another solution in a related question.

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

comm -3 -1 <(apt-mark showmanual | sort) <(deborphan -na | awk 'print $2' | cut -d':' -f1 | sort)

See also another solution in a related question.

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

edited Oct 9 '17 at 23:52

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

answered Oct 9 '17 at 23:09

a3nm

5,13831219

add a commentÂ |Â

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